All this hate

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Bill Wren

I just tweeted this: Why do so many of us say hate is a bad thing then spit hate when it comes to politics and religion?

It was prompted after reading the comments to this article in the The Globe & Mail: ‘God’s verdict’ outranks history’s, PM says. They are very depressing. As one commenter puts it, “This is a tremendous Canadian thread! All the nasty, bitter, sad little lives thronging in droves all around it.”

I’m always struck — to the point now that it’s approaching obsession — by the ironies surrounding it. We tend to think of zealotry as being a religious thing, as in ‘a religious zealot.’ But any dictionary will tell you it is any extremely held view. So when I hear someone like Bill Maher going on about atheism I find it funny, and ironic, that he often sounds like ‘a religious zealot.’

Why is hate a bad thing, unless what you hate is George Bush? Why is it bad, unless what you hate is liberals?

Hate is wrong. You don’t get to pick and choose what things it’s okay to hate and what things it’s not okay to hate. We seem to be blissfully unaware of the hypocrisy informing what we say and do. It’s also astonishing how we despise, loathe and spit bile about things we have only superficial knowledge of, and much of that erroneous. It’s as if truth is irrelevant. What’s important is that we have a target we can hate because, damn it, we’ve gotta hate something.

Why is that?

About Bill Wren

Writer, editor, social media practitioner and observer of how and where people connect and engage online.
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  • http://www.susanvillaslewis.com/ Susan Villas Lewis

    You had me up to the part where you said hate is wrong. So you think we should have passionate dislike instead for the evils of the world? Not talking the trumped up evils most people get in a lather over. The real ones. The ones that erode our freedom and our humanity. Stating that as such an absolute invites trouble. I’d rather we challenged the actions that result from the emotion than the emotion. Because even hate against things that deserve to be hated can run quite wrong if acted on improperly.

  • http://www.susanvillaslewis.com Susan Villas Lewis

    You had me up to the part where you said hate is wrong. So you think we should have passionate dislike instead for the evils of the world? Not talking the trumped up evils most people get in a lather over. The real ones. The ones that erode our freedom and our humanity. Stating that as such an absolute invites trouble. I’d rather we challenged the actions that result from the emotion than the emotion. Because even hate against things that deserve to be hated can run quite wrong if acted on improperly.

  • http://writelife.net/ Bill

    In referring to the evils of the world you say, “The ones that erode our freedom and our humanity.” I think that’s what hate is and does. It’s an evil and it erodes those things. So, for me, hate and evil are the same thing. And I think fighting evil with evil just makes everything worse.

    Hate usually simplifies and puts blinders on and it’s also viral and easily manipulated. I think that’s why we see so much of what is so delicately called “negative advertising” in elections.

    I understand where you are coming from with your objection but for me hate is the very thing you would fight.

  • http://writelife.net Bill

    In referring to the evils of the world you say, “The ones that erode our freedom and our humanity.” I think that’s what hate is and does. It’s an evil and it erodes those things. So, for me, hate and evil are the same thing. And I think fighting evil with evil just makes everything worse.

    Hate usually simplifies and puts blinders on and it’s also viral and easily manipulated. I think that’s why we see so much of what is so delicately called “negative advertising” in elections.

    I understand where you are coming from with your objection but for me hate is the very thing you would fight.

  • http://www.theseventhlevel.net Ali Imran Zaidi

    I really do enjoy Bill Maher’s show, but when he does go on his tirades about religion, he’s so emotional and often dogmatic about it, it really is like watching (insert religious zealot here). On the one hand he complains that religions take their scripture too literally, and then proceeds to take the scriptures too literally to criticize them. He complains that extremists and zealots should be pushed out of public discourse, but then brings up extremists and zealots as straw men to represent an entire populace he wishes to vilify. All of his analysis filters through a very angry, cynical, judgemental filter.

    Let me tie this into social media. There’s an individual I was recently talking to who was saying the usual, ‘you know what, I just don’t get it- Twitter, Facebook, etc. – what’s the point, etc. etc.’ He’s a non-tech person, almost a luddite, and of course as such he finds it difficult to be a part of something that basically lives and thrives on a platform of tech. Paraphrasing, he says to me ‘you know what, if I had my way, it would all just be turned off, shut off – not because it’s evil, but because I just don’t get it, and the fact that so many are participating in it and I’m not, it creates this self doubt and feeling of disconnectedness that then makes me feel resentment towards it, resulting in me wanting it to just go away.’ I’m not indulging here, or even conveying assumed subtext- this was basically the actual mental approach he was taking to social media.

    And the truly interesting part is that about two years ago, we had a similar conversation about religion. He said it should just be made illegal, turned off, shut down. He was not as forthcoming as to his reasoning then, because it was religion we were discussing. But 2 years later in talking to him about social media, the way his mind works really came clear to me. And if you quiz him on any of the tenets of most of the religions he wants to ‘turn off’? He doesn’t know all that much. Just some personal anecdotal information regarding his own experience and outside of that- just what he hears on the news, word-of-mouth, etc. You know, like most people.

    This specific case is about religion, but this sort of mental approach to things is a very human flaw that really, many of us wrestle with, in varying sizes. In effort to keep a grip on our own lives and challenges, we try to cut things out to feel less overwhelmed. We reduce our empathy for whatever it is, just to deal.

    What does this have to do with hate? Ultimately I believe hate is simply anger flourishing inside an ignorant thought. And considering that ignorance leads to a lack of empathy, the whole thing is very circular. The only cure is learning, which leads to empathy, but requires time and patience.

    So my answer to why do we hate? It’s because it’s easier than to love. I really think it’s that simple.

    I apologize for the long comment. Your great post got me charged up.

  • http://www.theseventhlevel.net/ Ali Imran Zaidi

    I really do enjoy Bill Maher's show, but when he does go on his tirades about religion, he's so emotional and often dogmatic about it, it really is like watching (insert religious zealot here). On the one hand he complains that religions take their scripture too literally, and then proceeds to take the scriptures too literally to criticize them. He complains that extremists and zealots should be pushed out of public discourse, but then brings up extremists and zealots as straw men to represent an entire populace he wishes to vilify. All of his analysis filters through a very angry, cynical, judgemental filter.

    Let me tie this into social media. There's an individual I was recently talking to who was saying the usual, 'you know what, I just don't get it- Twitter, Facebook, etc. – what's the point, etc. etc.' He's a non-tech person, almost a luddite, and of course as such he finds it difficult to be a part of something that basically lives and thrives on a platform of tech. Paraphrasing, he says to me 'you know what, if I had my way, it would all just be turned off, shut off – not because it's evil, but because I just don't get it, and the fact that so many are participating in it and I'm not, it creates this self doubt and feeling of disconnectedness that then makes me feel resentment towards it, resulting in me wanting it to just go away.' I'm not indulging here, or even conveying assumed subtext- this was basically the actual mental approach he was taking to social media.

    And the truly interesting part is that about two years ago, we had a similar conversation about religion. He said it should just be made illegal, turned off, shut down. He was not as forthcoming as to his reasoning then, because it was religion we were discussing. But 2 years later in talking to him about social media, the way his mind works really came clear to me. And if you quiz him on any of the tenets of most of the religions he wants to 'turn off'? He doesn't know all that much. Just some personal anecdotal information regarding his own experience and outside of that- just what he hears on the news, word-of-mouth, etc. You know, like most people.

    This specific case is about religion, but this sort of mental approach to things is a very human flaw that really, many of us wrestle with, in varying sizes. In effort to keep a grip on our own lives and challenges, we try to cut things out to feel less overwhelmed. We reduce our empathy for whatever it is, just to deal.

    What does this have to do with hate? Ultimately I believe hate is simply anger flourishing inside an ignorant thought. And considering that ignorance leads to a lack of empathy, the whole thing is very circular. The only cure is learning, which leads to empathy, but requires time and patience.

    So my answer to why do we hate? It's because it's easier than to love. I really think it's that simple.

    I apologize for the long comment. Your great post got me charged up.