Journal

Hateful

You’re enraged. Sure. I get that.

You’re angry. It’s justifiable.

You long for justice while day after day you see mounting evidence of inequality. You loath hypocrisy, but it presses in on all sides. You crave progress while we seem to only backslide. You feel righteous indignation in your bones …

I know. Me, too.

But hate is not the answer.

Every single time I see someone post something well-meaning that suggests (or overtly endorses) hate as a solution, it hurts. That won’t work. That never works. Hate is no solution. It never has been.

“But THIS—the way things are right now—this is not okay!” you say. “We need to stay vigilant or we won’t be able to create change!”

I agree. I really do. But vigilance and hate aren’t the same thing. You don’t have to demonize the opposition to justify your stance. You can stand against something without making it personal.

Seriously. You can.

“But these people!” you retort with increasing frustration. “They’re clearly EVIL! Aren’t we SUPPOSED to hate that?!”

Look. I can’t explain why others act in hate. I don’t get it, either. I see the same shit you see, day in, day out. I agree that there’s a lot going on in the world right now that feels fundamentally fucked up. It’s hard for me to see anything other than hate in the actions of some.

But even if hate motivates others, it doesn’t have to motivate us.

Wouldn’t it be better to rise above hate? To find ways to create meaningful change without mortgaging our souls? To leave our own humanity intact so we can enjoy the results when we finally achieve our goals?

I get the allure. Hate feels strong. It feels like a fitting response to social injustice. It feels appropriate.

But hate is a bottomless pit. It’s a hungry monster you can never satisfy. It’s a “cure” safely tucked away in Pandora’s box. It’s a primal power you only think you control.

In reality, it controls you. Give it even a small space in your heart, and you’re done for. It will claw its way into every corner and it will OWN you.

It’s fucking Faustian.

Don’t make that deal. Don’t give in to hate. Don’t you do it.

Find ways to stand against injustice, intolerance and inequity without becoming hateful. Be as serious and thorough about rooting out hate in your own heart as you are about making things right. Don’t trade one kind of tragedy for another.

Push for change. Speak your mind. Root yourself in your values. Make a big ol’ fuss about all the things that seem wrong in the world. Protest, picket, post and pontificate. All of that is fine. 

Just please, don’t hate. ?