A Reflection On Hatred
By: Nickole, Everythinkelse
Tags: Terrorism, Anger, Sadness, Hatred, Fear

”Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they.” Yoda

Photo credit @martinadams on Unsplash

The events of the recent days have provided ripe material for reflection. What could motivate someone to bring guns to a place of worship, and open fire upon unarmed worshippers, repeatedly reloading until they are satisfied? What would possess someone to fire upon a tram in a peaceful city? These are but the most publicized of the atrocities that are going on around the world, perpetrated by those who used to be ordinary peaceful folk.

Reading the manifesto of the New Zealand terrorist, I got the impression that this was a man of sound mind who honestly believed in a threat that was facing him and those he regards as his people. He did the thing he believed was right, and in the process decided it was right to gun down unarmed civilians in the name of his cause.

This outcome of radicalization is strikingly similar to those people he purports to hate. That same violence, that same fanaticism, that same sense of self-righteousness. I wonder what a radicalized individual’s younger self would think of what they would eventually become. Would they recoil in terror and disgust?

The strange effect of hatred is it can blind oneself such that one is incapable of self-reflection. The implied threat is that we are likewise vulnerable to similar manipulation, bringing an individual stepwise into the clutches of radicalization.

It is especially crucial in this era of information overload and nuance-free messaging that we constantly review our own values against that of those who are not like us, to break free of the echo chambers of our own construction.

Norms are not absolute, and can only be evaluated against what is deemed to be fashionable at the time. Something is normal only relative to the practices and beliefs of those you are in contact with and can be influenced by. It then follows that retreating from discourse into favorable safe spaces will tend to lead to a desynchronization from societal and global norms. This is the effect of the echo chamber. It is comfortable, and insidiously so. The desynchronization of the echo chamber can allow deadly hatred to coexist with camaraderie, creating a bizarre and toxic chimera.

Yet, ideals can be used to inform direction, against which the current trajectory of norms can be measured. There are myriad philosophies to explore, many of which conclude that one should pursue the interests of good things which extend beyond the limited view of the self.

This is the origin of a set of social ideals, a form of a code of ethics. It follows that the pursuit of goodness should ideally not result in harm to others, especially not for selfish reasons. It can then be said that hatred can be valid as a personal emotion, but it is unethical to channel that hatred to inflict harm upon others.

It is easier said than done, and therein lies the cognitive dissonance. If it is satisfying to exercise that hatred, and in doing so reinforces it, at some point the feeling of empowerment will threaten to overwhelm and hijack the moral compass. This makes us all vulnerable, for the righteous anger at someone else’s offenses can serve to create a new wave of hatred and polarization.

We need to be prudent and constantly on guard against spreading the poison of hatred that is being spewed, yet maintain the balance in righteously denouncing the violence. How have you battled with hatred today?