- Why do you hate?
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- Behind the question is an obvious assumption. Since every
human being you have ever known, including yourself, has likely expressed
hatred for someone at some point in his/her life, the assumption seems
entirely safe. We all carry in our hearts a certain amount of hatred for
each other. But remarkably few have ever stopped to question WHY.
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- We all know that countless human beings seem worthy of
hatred. Grotesque, aberrant, sociopathic personalities have dominated
the world for ages, and many appear to never receive "justice"
in this life. And we all function day-to-day in the midst of little cruelties
-- the jerk in the check-out line who swears out the cashier, the boss
who humiliates us in front of our coworkers, the teenage boys and girls
who mock and torment their peers.
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- When we see a human being behaving in an inhuman manner,
the only appropriate response is, "I hate that." In order to
be sane, one must feel some measure of compassion for his fellow man,
and to see him mistreated should always be a source of distress. And although
the human race as a whole cannot reasonably be described as "sane,"
even the marginally sane usually have within them a minimal moral compass
that allows them to tell "right" from "wrong" -- that
it is better to loving than hateful, charitable than selfish, peaceful
than violent. If we were not at least partly governed by these subjective
truths, our entire planet would have descended into total, irredeemable
chaos and bloodshed long ago.
-
- But most of us cannot stop at simply judging behaviors
and actions as "good" or "bad." We feel an uncontrollable
impulse to hate the human being responsible for the behavior. And it usually
matters not how illogical or hypocritical these judgments might be. Everyone
knows that the rudest, most inconsiderate people are often the ones who
complain most loudly about the manners of others. Similarly, the most
outspoken voices of "piousness" (Dr. Laura, Bill O' Reilly,
Rush Limbaugh, William Bennett) have themselves been guilty of the very
transgressions they so gleefully rail against. This human tendency toward
hypocrisy was known by all of history's great spiritual teachers, who
universally implored human beings to really LOOK IN THE MIRROR before
condemning their neighbors.
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- I find it both enlightening and horrifying that the topic
I've written on that has overwhelmingly generated the greatest number
of "hate mails" is equality. Sometimes the hatred is the result
of great misunderstanding, but other times, no misunderstanding is possible.
My position is and always will be that all human beings are created equal,
and are thus equally deserving of legal rights, protections, and the ability
to freely pursue happiness. On the surface, that doesn't seem like a very
radical position -- I have never stated anything on this matter that isn't
directly supported in the Constitution and/or the Bill of Rights of the
United States. Yet from the tone and content of some email responses I've
received, one would think that I was advocating genocide.
-
- Some people find the principle of intrinsic equality
repulsive for the most obvious reason -- they are racist. One such person
wrote to me and was quite forthright in his opinions:
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- "CM" wrote:
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- Pfft. You must be a Jew.
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- Why don't you try to tell your "we're all equal"
bullshit to this womans parents.
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- (He then included a link to the following news item):
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- Young White SA Girl Beheaded On Crowded Street
- (Link: http://www.rense.com/general76/sabehead.htm)
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- What is most ironic about this little vituperation is
that the author was responding to a piece where I adamantly denounced
the REVERSE RACISM that dominates mainstream media and suppresses black-
on-white hate crimes. But my position did not go "far enough"
for this gentleman, which he made clear in his follow up email:
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- "CM" wrote:
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- "Dear sir, If youy [sic] actually believe what you
wrote below, you're the one desperately in need of psychiatric help. Your
kind of thinking is what has led directly to the deaths of people like
the woman from SA and Channon Christian/Chris Newsom.
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- "Blacks aren't equal and if you haven't figured
that out by now, you're a deluded fool."
-
- I'd be interested to know what this person's proposed
solution is for dealing with all the unequal "darkies" populating
our land. Since they aren't equal (as he has clearly stated he believes),
they are logically undeserving of the same rights and protections afforded
by the law to white people. So perhaps the appropriate solution is for
white people to do to blacks whatever they feel is appropriate at a given
moment. Just thinking out loud here.
-
- Equally troubling to me were the responses I received
from people who did not or could not understand the meaning of "equality"
in the context that I used it. Since the word has been misused and debased
almost as much as any word in King's English, it is understandable how
this misinterpretation can occur. But I think my meaning was clearly stated
and should have been obvious to any intelligent person.
-
- One respondent on the website Bestcyrano.org wrote, "Human
beings are not intrinsically equal. Only Jews, those who take their money,
and the truly deluded postulate such things
-
- "Life is much better when you confront the inequality
and differences of the world, instead of trying to obscure them with
fantasy."
-
- I don't think I need to comment on this person's "Jew"
remark (it speaks volumes of itself), but I will respond to his patently
false claim that I live in denial of the obvious inequality in the world.
I understood going into my essay that many people have knee-jerk, negative
reactions when they see the word "equality." They assume that
the person speaking for equality is either arguing for a society that
ENFORCES an artificial "equality" (socialism, utopianism), or
is making the outrageous claim that all human beings presently function
as equals. I addressed this concern when I wrote: "At the level of
appearance, there is no equality and never will be. But so what? We don't
need a world of human beings who are all physically and intellectually
'equal' - a grotesque and bizarre science fiction fantasy."
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- The problem is not simply that most of us don't understand
the true meaning of equality. The fundamental problem is that we are all
guided by incorrect ideas of what a HUMAN BEING is.
-
- Racists and bigots are not the only ones who judge others
solely on the basis of external appearances. Most of us think of a "person"
as a body with a name, a brain, and a personality. This machinery is
born, and is intensely programmed by countless outside influences called
cultural conditioning (media, schools, religion, family, community). Like
any computer software, the mind and the personality can be corrupted.
A great trauma can leave both damaged, impaired, or even erased.
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- When we're young, our personalities are incredibly pliable
-- nice, easygoing, and self-confident adolescents are easily transformed
into addicts and criminals through abuse and mistreatment. Governments
are certainly aware of the mind/personalitiy's susceptibility to coercion,
and have invested untold funds in mind control research.
-
- The question must then be asked, if a personality is
so vulnerable to external (and often nefarious) influences, should it
ever be thought of as ME?
-
- I've always found it weird that most people feel morally
superior to caricatures of evil like terrorists and suicide bombers. If
this describes you, imagine being born into an environment where every
person you respected told you that you could find Paradise by murdering
a clearly identified enemy. If this message was pounded into your brain
every day of your life by your parents, your spiritual leaders, your schools,
and your media, do you really think you could just SHRUG IT OFF and choose
a different path? Of course, the question is rhetorical. If you believe
that you are impervious to the effects of outside conditioning, you are
in denial and present a serious danger to yourself and everyone around
you.
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- From my perspective, my personality and my thoughts are
things that I own in much the same way that I own a body. In order to
live a happy, healthy, and productive life, I must govern each responsibly.
But that which I govern is not ME.
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- A personality is not a human being. Neither is the body
or brain. Personalities, bodies, and brains are not EQUAL, and never will
be. They are impermanent, weak, and terribly vulnerable. So what basis,
if any, do we have for believing in a seemingly idealistic concept like
intrinsic equality?
-
- When our forefathers declared that "All men are
created equal," they could not have been referring to the body/brain/ego
machinery that is mistakenly thought of as a "person." It seems
inarguable that they were referring to the indestructible qualities of
the SOUL. It is also clear that the word "created" refers to
an event in the PAST -- that is to say, equality is a gift we were given
by God, and like most gifts, one can choose to throw it away.
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- I can view others as equals only when I view MYSELF as
an equal. I choose to believe that the permanent truth of who I am is
equally great to the truth of who you are. This recognition is far from
HARMFUL -- in fact, it provides a doorway to inspiration and UNITY, the
keys to real health and happiness.
-
- Equality is not just some drab, stultifying PC concept
used to celebrate mediocrity and "sameness." It is not the Star
Trek Borg, threatening to rob the individual of his or her unique identity
and autonomy. It is the means by which human beings can be freed from
mental prisons of competitiveness, anger, resentment, and guilt. You
can view your brothers and your sisters as YOURSELF (the path to joy,
sanity, and life), or as aliens to be feared and hated (the path to misery,
insanity, and death).
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- To be equal...or not. The choice is mine, and it is yours.
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- ADDENDUM
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- If you wish to respond to this piece, you may do so at
gspeed2000@gmail.com. If you're going to write me, I have a couple of
small requests.
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- 1) Before composing a message, please take the time to
READ the entire essay from top to bottom. And if you feel that any of
my points are unclear, rather than making assertions about my position,
please feel free to ASK ME QUESTIONS -- I am happy to clarify any apparent
ambiguity.
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- 2) If you wish to proffer overtly racist, sexist, or
otherwise inhuman assertions, please don't waste your time or mine --
we truly have no possibility of productive or meaningful communication.
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