“There is no place for hate in America—not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody….”
Words of President Biden when he spoke to the nation about America’s unequivocal support for Israel in the face of the unprovoked attack by Hamas over the weekend. He repeated these words yesterday in a White House meeting with Jewish leaders.
I wish what he said was true, that there is no place for hate in America against anybody, but we know it’s not.
If wishing could make something true, but, alas, a FBI report at the end of 2021 said that hate crimes had increased 12% in the U. S. in a year’s time.
These crimes, as defined by the FBI, are committed by people who target someone or group based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.
I confess that I don’t understand hate. I don’t know what it feels like to hate someone. I suspect that is true for most Americans.
That Hamas terrorists could kill men, women, children, and babies indiscriminately, including beheading them, is beyond my capacity to comprehend such evil acts.
Hate must be born of a damaged soul and an inability to control feelings with rational reflection.
I cannot believe it is normal. It has to be an aberration in the human psyche that overrides natural feelings of human connection.
I believe a person who hates suffers from feelings of self-loathing to such an extent that they function in the real world by dehumanizing others, making them an “it,” a thing rather than a person.
For this reason hate ultimately becomes self-defeating because it is self-destructive.
That’s how emotions work. Negative feelings lead to negative consequences. Positive feelings lead to positive consequences.
One of the powers of hate is its capacity to deceive haters into believing they will be successful. Often they do achieve some degree of success, but in the end they fail because hate is never self-sustaining.
On the other hand, hates survives longer than it otherwise would when haters form groups and give energy to one another. This is the power of what is called “group-think.” A group gives hate oxygen.
That is why those of us who refuse to hate, who believe in the power of good, of right, of human connection, of respect and decency, must confront hate whenever we encounter it.
Hate usually begins to show itself in hateful words and ugly behavior. We saw it in Charlottesville, Virginia a few years ago when neo-Nazis and white supremacists demonstrated in the streets against Jews and immigrants.
We hear it in the words of politicians who appeal to the worst of human instincts, who exploit people’s irrational fears, and who seek to divide our nation for their own political gain.
The challenge for us is to resist becoming unwitting participants in the growth of hate in our society. While we may not harbor hate for others based on who they are or what race they may be, it is easy to tolerate others who do.
We hear views espoused by others that are mean, ugly, rooted in prejudice or lies or stereotyping, in short, we hear views expressed and statements made that are rooted in hate, and we let them pass.
And letting them pass makes us complicit, makes us culpable for hate being spread without trying to stop it.
That’s all hate needs to grow, people who don’t hate tolerating words and actions that spread it without saying anything, without condemning it, without realizing how dangerous it is to our life together.
Signs at airports ask good people “to say something when they see something” that is not right. That’s what all of us who refuse to hate must do when hate is present. It is something that is not right and we must say something.
This can be done in ways that are not confrontational or that make matters worse. A simple, “I don’t agree with what you said” is often sufficient. What we cannot do is remain silent.
Sadly, we’re living at a time when those of us who refuse to give into hate are being tested by political and religious leaders who are feeding hate to anyone who will listen to them.
The way forward is for us not to give up on good, on love, on respect, on doing what is right, on all the values and qualities that redeem bad situations.
It sounds almost Pollyanna to say that, doesn’t it, just as President Biden did when he said there was no place for hate in America.
But I’m glad he said it, and because he did he pushed hate a little farther to the fringes of our life as a people and made more room for good.
Hopefully, when the circumstances call for it, we will be willing to do the same.
linnposts.com 
Wise words, Jan.
It’s easy to get so angry when somebody (Hammas in this case) attacks innocents in the name of liberation or revenge. It’s also easy for many to overlook the atrocities of the attackers based on the history of oppression and denigration of the groups out of which the attackers rose.
Neither the attacks nor the oppression is justified. Same for the retaliations that have started and which no doubt will spark retaliations to the retaliations and so on and so on.
The really sad thing is that based on the reactions we’ve seen so far, none of the lessons of 9-11 are in play, but all the mistakes are being repeated.
Wise words from you as well, Charlie. Thanks.
Extremely well written!
“ Hate must be born of a damaged soul and an inability to control feelings with rational reflection.”
Much appreciated.
Jan,
Yet again you have called-out hatred and evil in a way no one else can quite do! The leaders of Hamas are simply “animals” who do not deserve to breathe the same air as the rest of us!
You stop short of saying what I just said, reflecting your goodness and forgiveness. I have NO forgiveness for those who would butcher old men, women, and helpless children. May they rot in hell!!
Your friend,
Bill Blackwell
Didn’t say what you said, Bill, but can’t disagree with it. Your candor is a solid rock people who know you can count on. Thanks, my friend.
Hamas is evil incarnate. Their depravity and barbarism has no place in a civilized world. I have no doubt the Israel’s will utterly destroy them and have every right to do so. Hamas has no regard for the civilians in Gaza and will use them as shields. There is going to be mass destruction.
Hate speech has no place in America either. You didn’t have to go back seven years for an example of it. Just over the last few days there have been vehement anti-Semitic hate speeches around the United States. As Jake Tapper of CNN laments, it is coming from groups on the left. In NYC, a leftist rally for Palestine waved the Nazi flag. Leftist college groups around the country have come out supporting Hamas and saying the Jews got what they deserve. In Sydney Australia groups chanted, ‘gas the Jews’. Now I understand how the holocaust could have happened. How people could just stand by and let it happen, or not even care that it is happening. How people could join the Einsatzgruppen Death Squads. This is disgusting. And calls demonizing Israel will increase as Hamas is being destroyed.
The border patrol now estimates that over 100,000 people from suspect middle eastern countries have crossed our southern border during this administration. These are people from Palestine, Syria, Iran, and Iraq, most of whom’s whereabouts are unknown.
Yes, we have radicals on the left. The difference is, they don’t control the Democratic Party as they do Republicans. Your claim about the border is pure GOP propaganda coming from the likes of Donald Trump. Of course, security is high at a time like this, but thousands flooding in is as credible as Trump’s caravans of criminals during his presidency. How many times do you need to be told you have no credibility re the border or immigration as a Republican. All you know how to do is cite made-up figures as if they are facts. Help Democrats fix immigration and then you can say something worth hearing.
Guess Biden has reversed his policy and building part of the wall on the southern border. No doubt trying to keep out Republican misinformation
Thank you!
Appreciate the comment, Willie.
“Unprovoked”???
Not sure what you’re asking or saying, Wilbur.
Jan, considering the conditions that citizens of Gaza were forced to live in before this awful attack, and considering the provocative positions of the extremist Netanyahu cabinet and the continuing expansion of settlements, I was just calling into question your use of the word “unprovoked.”
I certainly don’t condone this heinous attack. To me Hamas is a terrorist organization that doesn’t represent the people of Gaza. Their charter which calls for the obliteration or dissolution of Israel must be denounced in the strongest terms. Jews around the world justifiably have reason to worry about their safety and the survival of their country.
AND, Palestinians have suffered greatly at the hands of Israeli governments and US complicity. I simply can’t recognize the suffering of one side without recognizing the suffering of the other.
It’s not that I missed the larger point of your blog about hate in the world, it’s just that for me it was overshadowed by what I think was an inaccurate use of the word “unprovoked.”
Wilbur, not sure how you can think the Hamas attack was unprovoked. It clearly was. In fact, no such surprise attack that involved indiscriminate killing could ever be provoked. It was not an appropriate response to any grievance the Palestinian have. The issues you raise are important and on target, but they do not constitute a “provocation” for this attack under any circumstances. I believe we have to be as clear about that as you believe we should about Israeli policies that are unjust.
Jan, I said in my initial response that the attack was a heinous act. I expressed, and feel, no support for Hamas, and certainly didn’t suggest it was an “appropriate response to any grievance.”
But I don’t think the meaning of “unprovoked” has an “appropriateness”qualifier in it. To suggest that this murderous attack is an isolated event and totally unconnected to the years of suffering of Palestinians in occupied lands and Gaza I think would be inaccurate. I expressed quite strongly my support for Israel and will worship with Jewish friends tonight to share their pain. I’m suggesting that we not forget the suffering of Palestinians.
Wilbur, “to provoke” always implies causality. That is why I say again that the attack was “unprovoked.” I don’t doubt your support for Israel at all. And I understand your concern that both sides bar responsibility for long-term conflict and solutions. Most people agree with you, as I do.
Isn’t it interesting and obvious how Mr. Keefer can be so articulate and intelligent about people that hate people that “he agrees” with. But so utterly inartuculate and unintelligent with his own hatred of people he does not agree with.
No doubt he will respond to what you wrote, John.
Wasn’t aware I expressed any hatred to anyone except Hamas. If that offends you than I could care less
And that is exactly the point. Most of us in this blog, in this country and in this world are caring people. Obviously you are not!
For someone as caring as you make yourself out to be, you quickly, personally attack me for daring to disagree with you. I understand. It requires thought and, at least some intellect, to maintain a civil conversation
Enough of the back and forth.