Hatred

It’s been in the air for a while now; for years, in fact, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it — until last week. I’d been scouring the past for landmarks, to the McCarthy era and a Europe divided. The prime emotion for so long was fear. Today I realized, it’s hatred.

I’m not talking of the simple, visceral, easily-targeted hatred of Hitler and the Nazis; that didn’t even provoke hatred in the allies so much as a cheerful determination to not stoop to their level. What’s happening today is more subtle, not ‘out there’ any more but an insidious division in our midst.

President Obama is not, as presidents once were, simply a political adversary to the republicans; to many of them he’s a liar, a communist and bent on the destruction of America as they know (or imagine) it.

Obscene comments have flooded lawmakers’ offices since the health care reform bill passed. Callers have made death threats against lawmakers and their children. Windows were shattered at four Democratic offices in New York, Arizona and Kansas. In Virginia, someone cut a propane line at a house believed to be owned by Rep. Tom Perriello. Sarah Palin’s Twitter page encouraged supporters: “Don’t retreat, instead – reload!” The former vice presidential candidate’s Facebook page also featured a map of the U.S. with circles and crosshairs over twenty districts.

Here in Canada, the rebuffal of Ann Coulter by students of Ottawa University turned quickly into a dialogue of hate about hate. This ‘republican firebrand,’ as the media loves to call her, saw her rejection as an opportunity, and played it to her advantage. “They hate me,” she said ingeniously; even critics fell into line.

Yesterday in Michigan, eight men and a woman were arrested for planning to kill a police officer and then ambush their colleagues at his funeral. They called them members of a Christian militia. Jeez—the things that go on in Christ’s name!

Osama bin Ladin must be delighted with the way things are going in North America.

My concern is to resist the tit-for-tat reactivity that turns disagreement into disgust into fear into my own hatred. Just because I practice mindful reflection doesn’t make me immune. As a tool it can help me resist the worst part of being human and to nurture the best, but only if I have the presence of mind to put it into practice.

Author: Stephen Schettini

Host of The Naked Monk

4 thoughts on “Hatred”

  1. This post is thought-provoking, and it also scares me to the bones!

    I especially resonate with your last paragraph. This paragraph reminds me of a constant ‘question’ I keep having: ‘I preach tolerance, but how do I react to people who are themselves intolerant? How can I possibly be tolerant towards intolerant people?’ Stephen, I’m sure you must have some insights on that! Any advice? And maybe some of your readers have thought the same?

    1. What else can I do but tolerate intolerant people? That doesn’t mean I condone them, and I will oppose them by force if neccesary. If I were transported back to 1939 Germany with the opportunity to shoot Adolf Hitler, should I do it? I can’t think of any reason why not, but I dare say I’d still pay a price. Ideally, I’d do it with detachment, without hatred or righteousness, but that’s easier said than done. It takes lots of mindful reflection. It’s said that, if necessary, the Buddha will kill — dispassionately.

  2. It is quite sad that all this crap might get someone or some people either injured or killed. Anyone who has extreme views is a danger. Especially when you make a call for action.

    But then again didn’t Jesus hold extreme views ?

    Anyway this is just the beginning of the end of the American Empire. Just like the British and the Romans before them.

  3. The Dalai Lama’s life is such a good model of applying the practice of the Buddha’s teachings versus hatred. Christ’s teachings in the gnostic texts on ” forgiveness” and the Buddha’s teaching on compassion are graeat practices against hatred and even evil.

    The Buddha had it right that compassion certainly is the simpler or easier wing of enlightenment than insight especially when facing the more extreme examples of ego. One thing for sure is as cultivated as your practice may be, facing hatred can sure test the limits of your depth of practicing sunyata and that is why compassion is so much easier an entry point than insight.

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