“Hate” Is a Crutch

 

I am confident that people who know me in real life will tell you that, while I exhibit at least the usual complement of flaws, odd quirks, and irritating peccadilloes, being hateful is not numbered among them. That’s probably because I’ve been fortunate, and can’t think of anyone who has seriously wronged me or wronged someone I love. Hate simply isn’t an emotion I experience, and the word is not one I use.

I would like to believe that this is true of most people — that they don’t really feel hate much, if at all — and that the word is too casually used.

Certainly, it is overused. It has become a convenience for some to label a difference of opinion as an expression of hate. This hurts everyone, simultaneously undermining the language, denigrating the person or group so labeled, and forestalling any possibility of discussion and understanding.

We can disagree about even important matters without hate being a factor. We can favor open borders or controlled borders, high minimum wages or no minimum wages, legal same-sex marriage or only traditional marriage, socialism or free markets, free abortion or no abortion — any of these extremes or anything in-between. We can vote Democrat or Republican, have Bernie stickers on our cars or wear “Make America Great Again” hats, embrace a rainbow of sexual promiscuity or prudishly advocate abstinence, fully accept the apocalyptic claims of the global warming alarmists or be skeptical of their science or the policies they advocate, be an enthusiastic supporter of the trans movement or think it’s a bunch of faddish nonsense, oppose the private ownership of guns or be a pro-gun fanatic in favor of no regulation at all.

None of these positions requires that someone be hateful, and it’s small-minded, presumptuous, and rude to ascribe hate to someone simply because he or she disagrees with your position on these issues — or, indeed, on the vast majority of issues.

I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t hate: how much of your life you want to devote to hating is your business, not mine. I’m saying you shouldn’t accuse other people of hating based on something as superficial as their opinions on topics about which you happen to think differently.

By far, most of the claims of “hate” I hear and read suggest more to me about the person making the claim than about the ostensibly hateful object of the accusation. I think it most often reveals that the accuser is shallow, lacks self-awareness and empathy, is uncharitable, and/or cynically uses the ugly label to silence people whose arguments he or she is unwilling or unable to engage.

Too readily smearing others as “haters” seems itself almost … well, it certainly isn’t an act of love.

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  1. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Barfly (View Comment):

    It’s probably futile to ask, but would anyone care to take a stab at a definition of “hate” ? I suggest “hate” is the “habit of anger and fear.”

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    The Rich Lowry-Peter Beinhart debate over the funding source for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s attempted trip to Israel on CNN Monday was a textbook example of blinding hate taking over

    Agreed. Losing self-control and courtesy over something that doesn’t immediately threaten one is a strong indicator.

    “OK, so what is ‘hate’ anyway?” would make a fine post on its own, were some studly dude to write such a thing. 

    • #31
  2. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Barfly (View Comment):

    It’s probably futile to ask, but would anyone care to take a stab at a definition of “hate” ? I suggest “hate” is the “habit of anger and fear.”

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    The Rich Lowry-Peter Beinhart debate over the funding source for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s attempted trip to Israel on CNN Monday was a textbook example of blinding hate taking over

    Agreed. Losing self-control and courtesy over something that doesn’t immediately threaten one is a strong indicator.

    I’m not doing definition but I have some thoughts about those who might be susceptible to expressing hate or even just talking excessively about hate.

    I’m guessing that a focus on hate correlates more with a wide range of emotional activity in a personality and less when that emotional range is narrow.

     

    • #32
  3. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    TBA (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    It’s probably futile to ask, but would anyone care to take a stab at a definition of “hate” ? I suggest “hate” is the “habit of anger and fear.”

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    The Rich Lowry-Peter Beinhart debate over the funding source for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s attempted trip to Israel on CNN Monday was a textbook example of blinding hate taking over

    Agreed. Losing self-control and courtesy over something that doesn’t immediately threaten one is a strong indicator.

    “OK, so what is ‘hate’ anyway?” would make a fine post on its own, were some studly dude to write such a thing.

    It doesn’t matter what it is. The point is to suppress dissenting speech and thought. The term can be used as needed to accomplish that objective.   

    • #33
  4. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    It’s probably futile to ask, but would anyone care to take a stab at a definition of “hate” ? I suggest “hate” is the “habit of anger and fear.”

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    The Rich Lowry-Peter Beinhart debate over the funding source for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s attempted trip to Israel on CNN Monday was a textbook example of blinding hate taking over

    Agreed. Losing self-control and courtesy over something that doesn’t immediately threaten one is a strong indicator.

    “OK, so what is ‘hate’ anyway?” would make a fine post on its own, were some studly dude to write such a thing.

    It doesn’t matter what it is. The point is to suppress dissenting speech and thought. The term can be used as needed to accomplish that objective.

    I’m inclined to agree: it doesn’t really pay to define “hate,” but rather to understand what is intended when it is used.

    Accusing someone of hate is, usually, tantamount to saying:

    “You have adopted the position you have, not out of any rational process, but because you have a malignant desire to hurt people, and you think that what you advocate will achieve that.”

    When you put it that way, the presumptuousness and arrogance of the too-casual use of the word becomes pretty clear.

     

    • #34
  5. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    It’s probably futile to ask, but would anyone care to take a stab at a definition of “hate” ? I suggest “hate” is the “habit of anger and fear.”

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    The Rich Lowry-Peter Beinhart debate over the funding source for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s attempted trip to Israel on CNN Monday was a textbook example of blinding hate taking over

    Agreed. Losing self-control and courtesy over something that doesn’t immediately threaten one is a strong indicator.

    I’m not doing definition but I have some thoughts about those who might be susceptible to expressing hate or even just talking excessively about hate.

    I’m guessing that a focus on hate correlates more with a wide range of emotional activity in a personality and less when that emotional range is narrow.

    Did you just say, “haters gonna hate”? 

    • #35
  6. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    TBA (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    It’s probably futile to ask, but would anyone care to take a stab at a definition of “hate” ? I suggest “hate” is the “habit of anger and fear.”

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    The Rich Lowry-Peter Beinhart debate over the funding source for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s attempted trip to Israel on CNN Monday was a textbook example of blinding hate taking over

    Agreed. Losing self-control and courtesy over something that doesn’t immediately threaten one is a strong indicator.

    I’m not doing definition but I have some thoughts about those who might be susceptible to expressing hate or even just talking excessively about hate.

    I’m guessing that a focus on hate correlates more with a wide range of emotional activity in a personality and less when that emotional range is narrow.

    Did you just say, “haters gonna hate”?

    Those who rely on emotion to address serious issues are going to make poor decisions.

    • #36
  7. Jon1979 Inactive
    Jon1979
    @Jon1979

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    It’s probably futile to ask, but would anyone care to take a stab at a definition of “hate” ? I suggest “hate” is the “habit of anger and fear.”

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    The Rich Lowry-Peter Beinhart debate over the funding source for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s attempted trip to Israel on CNN Monday was a textbook example of blinding hate taking over

    Agreed. Losing self-control and courtesy over something that doesn’t immediately threaten one is a strong indicator.

    I’m not doing definition but I have some thoughts about those who might be susceptible to expressing hate or even just talking excessively about hate.

    I’m guessing that a focus on hate correlates more with a wide range of emotional activity in a personality and less when that emotional range is narrow.

    Did you just say, “haters gonna hate”?

    Those who rely on emotion to address serious issues are going to make poor decisions.

    I think in the specific case of Beinhart, he felt freer to rely on emotion because he was in what he perceived as a friendly place (CNN), where a hyperbolic emotional appeal on the progressive side would not be called out by the host, or cost him future appearances on the network.  It’s a less-serious version of the phenomenon with Antifa, where it’s  collective courage is in direct correlation to how much progressive politicians are in control of the area where they’re staging their protest (I’m still waiting to see if Antifa does go through with its plans to stage a protest in El Paso over the border detainment. It was announced before the shootings, but after that and despite El Paso’s fairly liberal voting patterns, I don’t think the county or state law enforcement is going to be in any more to left angry protestors get out of hand).

    • #37
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