The Cost of Hate

What good is it to hate the way we do in America? Look at what it has cost us. Our political institutions are log-jammed with obstructionist tactics. Our prisons are filled to capacity and beyond, and at least one in ten prisoners are not guilty of the crime for which they’re imprisoned. “Protesters” wreak havoc in our streets. Innocent people are beaten and killed without rational cause. Nations that had once been our close friends are now considering breaking off relations. Neighbors won’t speak to one another. Businesses are boycotted on the flimsiest excuse. Society has come to the brink of civil war. All because we love to hate.

Hate damages the hater more than the hated. When you hate, with or without cause, you diminish your capacity to love even those whom you wish to love. Hate causes the “love muscle” in your soul to bend down like a frown bends your mouth down. Try it, smile at one person while frowning at another. can’t be done. Nor can you truly love anyone if you harbor hate for another.

Democrats hate Republicans. Conservatives hate Liberals. Racists hate those who look different. Citizens hate criminals and illegal aliens. Where is this going to lead us.

In the languages of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, mercy is an inseparable component of justice. Mercy is one expression of love. Did the Eastern Mediterranean people have more love than the Western people? We see the wars and conflicts over tribal and differences taking place in the Middle East and think that hate is the normal way of life for people there. This is not normal. Most Middle Eastern people are loving and willing to get along with their neighbors. The hateful minority has caused the rest to suffer from their expression of hate. Here the hateful are becoming the majority if the media are to be believed. It may be a self fulfilling prophecy.

The primary driver of American hate seems to be the form of media we have developed in the last half century. “How does that make you feel?” is the question asked in every sound bite. As if the real news is the feelings of hate stirred up by the event reported. We eat it up. This is the driving force behind our society’s descent into hate fueled nihilism.

We must change the way we view news and demand our media quit pushing emotions over facts. Like Joe Friday, just give me the facts, ma’am.