It is neither possible nor virtuous to be devoid of hatred. Even those who think it is always wrong to hate must hate hatred. The question therefore is not whether one hates, but what (or whom) one hates.
For example, on the basis of the value system that I hold – the Judeo-Christian – I try to confine my hating to evil. By evil I mean the deliberate infliction of unjust suffering on the undeserving – cruelty is the best example of such evil.
...everyone hates someone, and that includes people on the Left. The problem is that because they don't hate evil, they hate those who oppose evil. That is how liberals went from anti-communist to anti-anti-communist. To paraphrase one of the greatest moral insights of the Talmud, those who show mercy to the cruel will be cruel to the merciful. So, George W. Bush, not the Islamic terror world, is the Left's villain; life-embracing Israel is the Left's villain, not their death-loving enemies; and religious Christians who note moral weaknesses within the Islamic world are the real danger, not the moral weaknesses within the Islamic world.
10 comments:
I'm seeing the over-use of the word "evil," and I think it might be too convenient a label we place on people (both left and right, alike). It's becoming a cliche, like the word "hero" did back in 2001. For example: Communism doesn't mean evil, tyranny does, and I think we have to be careful how we can demonize people who are just trying to do what s/he thinks is right (paraphrasing Clinton, with regards to G.W. Bush). I do think there are evil men in the world, and we should still label them as such, but we need to reserve this word for such people as Saddam, Hitler and Bundy, because it loses its power when we call Bush, Kerry or Al Gore evil. The word becomes flaccid.
With regards to hate, there's an interesting movie (whose title I can't remember right now), whereby the two protagonists are filled with hate, and everything they hate disappears and becomes a white void. Example, one of them will hate a house, and that house disappears into white nothingness. They might hate a country, and that country will disappear. Over time, they've hated so much that there's nothing left in the world except the two haters. Exasperated, one man hates himself and ceases to exist. The other man hates hatred itself, and everything comes back. That's the basic premise of the movie, and I thought it fit in with Prager's notion. Sort of.
Huh. Very interesting premise for a movie. Do you remember what it was called?
I agree with you about the over-use of the word hate. In this article, however, Prager narrowly defines it as "the deliberate infliction of unjust suffering on the undeserving." Few would argue with this definintion. I think Prager's point is that many on the left have become apologists for truly evil regimes instead of opponents.
Just yesterday, the news was filled with anti-Israeli demonstrations around the world, but not one anti-Hezbollah parade. People pay lip service to evil ("of course Sadaam was a bad guy, BUT...") and then focus their rage on the victims of it. Morally bizarre (sick?) behavior, if you ask me.
Oops. I meant the over-use of the word "evil." Once again, writing too fast and not editing my work!
I know what you mean: I always write too fast and miss little things. I figured you were talking about evil.
Here's evil for you: stealing someone's one-of-a-kind gear. That's just wrong.
The word "evil" is really like the word "cool", but people assign it more gravity than it deserves. It's a matter of opinion and perspective and always will be. Ask one person or group of people and they will give you an opinion as to what's evil. Ask another person or group of people and they will give you theirs.
At one time, a considerable portion of "civilized society" saw witches as "evil" and hunted women down to kill them on suspicion of this "evil". Now people use the term "witch hunt" to denote pointless "hate" of a perceived "evil" that is, in fact, misplaced. Evidence of the temporal and societal relativity of "evil".
One may "hate" moral relativity in the same way one despises physical relativity, but it makes it no less so.
Hate this ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p27si3vWlX4
I did. Hey, Tom. Can I have that 4:13 of my life back now?
No. But I'll trade it for this instead.
The Badgers have nothing on this guy. You'll appreciate this if you're a guitar player. This guy rocks!
Let's try that again with the link.
http://www.guitarshredshow.com/
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