I Hate Hate

I was reminded again yesterday that I hate hate. I hate everything about that emotion.  I hate how it feels. I hate how it makes us want to act and I hate how it negatively impacts our society.

I hate that some people are so angry and hate filled that they indiscriminately kill other people. I even hate that the indiscriminate killing of other people makes me so angry I end up hating the people who kill.  I hate the senselessness of the whole thing. I hate feeling hate.

I’ve written before about turning hate into compassion. (see: http://humanisthappiness.blogspot.com/2010/01/turning-hate-into-compassion.html)  But what I want to say today, and what I teach my child when he is angry: is that it’s ok to feel the emotion. Just don’t act on it.

And I think that’s what I hate about hate the most. It’s an irrational emotion that is often overwhelming when we experience it. It robs us of our rationality.  We have to fight to regain a sense of balance so that we can act rationally and with compassion despite our anger and frustration and yes, hate.

To me part of being a good person is understanding that I have a moral obligation to control my emotions so that I do not negatively impact myself or others. I hate that not everyone cares enough to even try to control their emotions and I especially hate that not everyone is even capable of that level of self-control.  In short: I hate hate.  Thanks. I really needed to get that off my chest.

4 comments:

  1. I recently saw a program about the Freedom Riders. One of the racists interviewed said "I need something to hate". Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent blog ... recall the Bob Dylan lyric?

    While others say don’t hate nothing at all
    Except hatred

    from "It's Alright, Ma (I'm only Bleeding)"

    Similarly, we should be intolerant of intolerance ...

    ReplyDelete

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