The definition of HATE, from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Used as a noun: a. intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury; b. extreme dislike or disgust : antipathy, loathing; c. a systematic and especially politically exploited expression of hatred
Used as a verb: a. to feel extreme enmity toward, or to regard with active hostility; b. to have a strong aversion to, or find very distasteful; c. to express or feel extreme enmity or active hostility
Hate is not born into us. It is bred into us. It is a learned behavior. When it is becoming more and more commonplace, we need to recognize it and stand up to it, now more than ever.
I can tell you what happened in my lifetime.
By 1990, a year after I was born, the federal government stated that hate crimes were on the rise. President Bush (Senior) signed into law The Hate Crime Statistics Act. It was meant to collect information on victims of crimes - age, sex, ethnicity, race, etc. - and the data was used to determine and combat these crimes. In 2009, it was renamed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Before that, civil rights were addressed little by little. It was not only blacks who demanded it. Indigenous peoples. Hispanics. Muslims. And so many more! All of them were a piece of the fabric that created the liberties that some enjoy today.
My generation was born in the last years of the Cold War. We were mostly raised by immigrant grandparents and parents who whispered of propaganda and nonsense superstitions. By the end of the first decade of the new millennium, we had elected our first black president and many of our elders were talking about their guns being taken away and being stuck in FEMA concentration camps. Of course, that did not happen. But while people were making up lies about your destiny under a black president, something else did.
Millions of lives. Lost. Brutally mutilated, crying for mercy and to be found. How many were hurt or killed because they were a different race? Ability? Sexual orientation? Gender? Can you name any of those people?
They were somebody's friend. Parent. Sibling. Cousin. Aunt. Uncle. Neighbor. Niece. Nephew. Tribe. Clan. Classmate. Teacher. Somebody's anything.
What would you do if it happened to you?
The Jesus of the Bible said to love one another. Have mercy. Feed the hungry. Comfort the downtrodden. Don't judge one another, for we are all sinners in God's eyes.
That standard does not seem to be very Christian these days, and more's the shame.
Peace be upon you. I see the light in you, and I hope it is a kind one. Namaste!
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