The world is full of hate, people say, right before they proclaim that they themselves do not feel hate, only pity for those who have been consumed by their own hatred for others. It must hurt them, to feel hate all the time.
It’s just a pose, of course, this claim not to feel hatred, a righteous disguise for hate. Hate is a taboo emotion, something that people understand they’re not allowed to express. So, people rarely allow their hate to be expressed in the form of naked snarling and screaming. They reframe their hatred as concern, as justice, as love.
Hate is an emotion of extreme dislike and hostility. It’s impossible to live in the world that we do, full of conflict, cruelty, and betrayal, and not feel some hatred in response. We don’t need to let hatred dominate us and direct our choices, but hatred will be an influence in every life from time to time.
Everybody hates, sometimes. That includes me. I hate it when people pretend they don’t hate, because when we accept the fantasy that only monstrous people feel hate, we turn a blind eye to the growth of monstrosity within ourselves.
To keep our hate in check, we first need to admit that it’s there. Next, we need to look at it honestly. Hate isn’t just a flaw in character. There are reasons that hate exists. Those reasons are often twisted into dishonest justifications, but no one hates just for the fun of it.
Forbidding the emotion of hate won’t eliminate it. Pushing hate out of honest consideration only adds a new twist to its tale.
