Hatred... that most poisonous of emotions

Hatred, that feeling that is all consuming. That feeling that causes your pulse to race, that causes your body temperature to sky rocket, that blinds you to all logical thought. You know the feeling I am talking about. It is the one that is eating away at the heart of America even as I write this.

Where does it come from? Why do so many people seem to be eaten alive with this draining, damaging emotion?

If you need to see it in action just take a look at the news today. Look what is happening with the issue of GLBT rights in our country. We have the CEO of a company proud of the fact that he gives money to organizations that are working towards robbing this one community of their rights, in some cases their lives.

Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council said on an msnbc board cast, “…I think there would be a place for criminal sanctions against homosexual behavior.” His organization sent money, which they got from businesses like Chick-Fil-A, and time to lobby the US Congress to NOT condemn Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill. Even the Catholic Church backs this bill. Why on earth would you have so much hate in your heart as to want a group of people you disagree with put to death? Where does this kind of hatred come from?

As much as I would like to say this is something new, it’s not. Our history as a species is filled with actions of hate against those that have been singled out. Look at what happened to the Jews (both in German and what is happened/ing in Israel), reactions to Muslims, the people of African decent in America, how American Japanese were treated during WWII, and even women in America for the longest time. But it doesn’t stop with large groups having this hatred, there are those individuals that are so filled with hate they commit atrocities on their own. Look at Eric Rodulph, Timothy McVeigh, and most recently James Holmes.

Again I ask, where does all this hate come from? Is it spawned by those who feel threatened by the group they select to attack? Is it spawned by the teaching they receive from home, school, or even from their religious institutions? Whatever the cause we as a species must find a way to overcome this. We must find a way to accept those around us as they are, even when we do not agree with them. We must find away to live in peace with each other, for nature always finds a balance. And it might be that nature decides that humanity has had its chance. If that happens we will not have to worry about getting along because there will be no humanity to get along with.

I pray to the Kindred each night that they guide me to release such negative emotions and help me find a way to guide those around me to do the same.