Hatred

Thursday’s one word prompt for writing:  Hatred.

Thankfully, HATRED is an emotion which is foreign to me.  Oh, conceptually I understand that people hate. But I cannot think of anything or anyone I dislike enough to “Hate”.

Current thinking in personal psychology teaches that there are two basic human emotions, to  which all other emotions are related – Love and Fear.  Hatred is a result of fear.

In his 2002 book “hatred: The Psychological Decent into Violence”, Dr. Willard Gaylin equates Hatred with Rage, and see the two as operating “on a toggle switch, readily convertible, one to the other”.   He continues, “Rage is the public face of fear in most men and many women.  The two can be considered as opposites sides of the same coin, the same emergency response.  Therefore, to look for what enrages a population, look for what threatens them.”  In modern society, feeling threatened can deal with more than just personal safety or physical survival.  Dr Gaylin continues: “Anything that diminishes self-confidence or raises questions about one’s strength, value, or worth – in other words, one’s capacity to defend oneself, one’s honor, one’s territory – can also invoke rage.”  So, anything in modern society which threatens social standing can be a source of Hatred.

Using these definitions as a guide, it is easy to see and understand the reasons and underpinnings for many cultural hatreds which are a part of the modern world.  In the middle east, for example, the animosity between the Arabs and Jews can be traced to the historical struggle for the same land.  Not surprisingly, when the Palestinians were displaced after WWII in order to make a homeland for the Jews to call their own, those who lost their homes and security began to hate those who displaced them.

Let’s look back to why Hitler and his followers hated Jews.  To many, because of their involvement in the banking and financial industries in Germany, the Jews were responsible for the the downfall and subsequent economic problems of the German republic.  Even their religion was  different from the mainstream Lutheranism and Catholicism of the German people, and so they were easy to blame as the causes of the problems in Germany.  As Hitler began to rise to power, he did so by inspiring his followers to embrace the natural superiority of the German people and to look down on those who were different.   It is easy to see the Us against Them mentality begin to rise.  And it is easy to hate “Them”, because “They” want to control “Us”…and the drama of self delusion continues to reinforce itself.  Of course, it is always easier to find a simple scape goat on which to blame the problems than to accept responsibility for unpleasant outcomes.

Tragically, this animosity is truly the root of the hatred expressed toward the United States by Arabs in the modern era.  After WWII, when the Jewish people carved out a state from the lands in Palestine, the United States became a supporter and guarantor of the safety of the Jewish state of Israel.  As a supporter of the source of troubles to the Arabs, many extended their fear and hated to include the power which many see as preventing then from reclaiming what they consider to be rightfully theirs.    The actions inspired by this Hatred threaten the peace, tranquility, and way of life in the United States, and so this inspires Hatred against those who undertake those actions.  And, as is all too common, that same Hatred is transferred to any who look like or sympathize with those who take such actions.  And, in this case, the religion which us used to cloak those actions.

Hated is an emotion caused by fear.  Sometimes the fear is perfectly rational, sometimes it is caused only by perception of a false threat.  Regardless, and  unfortunately, those motivated by Hatred often fail to see there can be solutions other than Rage and Violence to resolve the problems and issues which lie at the root of the fear.  Some will say this is human nature.  I would argue that allowing hatred to motivate the response is the lazy way out.  As humans, we should strive to rise above destructive emotions and responses.

Personally, I do not like being angry, and the feeling I get inside when I am angry..  Anger is a part of the Fight or Flee reaction and is a response to fear.   I cannot imagine how I would feel if I were to become angry enough to begin to hate. By working to transform anger to understanding, I strive to not experience hate on a personal level.