Why hate?

Revenge can gratify for a short time only, but it never can satisfy for revenge is an agent of hatred, and the nature of hatred is to first destroy the hated one and then destroy the hater.

 I’m watching the Ken Burns documentary, Holocaust. A slow arduous journey through black and white films and the steadfast methodical narration of Peter Coyote. It’s very hard to watch and yet I feel I have a duty, a responsibility to at least look at what hate has done in this world and be aware of what hate can do and possibly is doing to our world. Hate. Hate is stronger than love. Love is shared and cherished by people who are lucky enough to find it. Love is needed by everyone but only given to those who earn it. The Selfish Gene addresses that fact wherein Richard Dawkins asserts that caring for or loving another person is confined to only the genetic bonds of mother and child. All other altruism is a receding bond from that point outward and all other social bonds are inherently self serving. He applies the word selfish as a term we can understand but points out that the gene has no feelings and makes no commitment or denial. The gene, on a cellular level, seeks only to survive and replicate. Is it this genetic imperative the foundation of hate? Does the mother loves the child, needs the father, needs the community for sustenance  lead to a fear of outsiders, xenophobia and hate. Is the cry of You will not replace us, somehow mapped into our genetic quest for self preservation? I think not, I hope not, I pray not but as I watch this I am faced with the reality that the Statue of Liberty and the republic for which it stands was not the loving and heroic nation of the highest ideals that I have always believed we were. Sadly xenophobia and antisemitism are very much a part of our history and continue into this day. It is so wrong, so un Christian, so anti christ and his teachings and yet the Christian churches past and present have turned their backs on their own savior,

By raising this question, Why Hate, and even by exploring a possible genetic link, I am in no way justifying, rationalizing, excusing or accepting hatred as acceptable. I am just mystified by it's existence and persistence in human history. I thought we confronted so many of these issues in the 60’s. The peace movement was more than a protest against the war in Viet Nam, it was a protest against inhumanity. In those peace demonstrations there was advocacy for human rights, for woman’s rights, for gay rights and racial rights. It was a generation of flower power, music advocating peace, love and harmony. I was never a full blown hippy. No drugs, no shoulder length hair, no rock throwing or calling policemen pigs… I was never a Jesus freak but I did believe in those things I thought to be the highest ideals of Christian love; blessed are the poor, the meek, the least of these. Love thy neighbor as thyself and The Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I taught that golden rule as a social worker and I try to live by it. Far from perfect but a worthy cause. I only wish, hope and pray that our world, our country would heed those teachings now. Jesus said, I am the truth, the light and the way. The Roman’s crucified him, the Nazis killed 6 million more and Kanye West went into some racist rant on twitter. Thankfully that was taken down but sadly antisemitism is alive and well in America today. I don’t know when I’ll be called to speak out against it. I only hope, when called upon that I do.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-american-jews-loyalty-israel_n_634c0de5e4b03e8038d51778