When hatred is necessary By Jeff Jacoby
Blessing the evildoer...
Who is it that judges another as "evildoer"?"G-d bless his soul? What a grotesque idea!" I wrote. "G-d, I am quite sure, will damn him for eternity."
Oh, I see, it is you, Jeff Jacoby, the judge....One of them was Pat Buchanan, who replied...with a jab at the presumption of "columnists who know the mind of G-d."
Christians believe. "I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," Jesus is quoted in Matthew, "so that you may be children of your Father in heaven."
Indeed that is what Jesus taught. Still most who profess to follow him still do not turn the other cheek.Jewish tradition holds, with Ecclesiastes, that there is a time to love and a time to hate. The Hebrew Bible enjoins us to love our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18) and to love the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19), but that love has its limits.
"...and when the Jews rejoiced, seeing the Egyptian army swallowed by the waters of the red sea G_d said, "Be quiet, my children are dying."
(midrash)To bless the Hitlers and the Arafats of this world is to betray their victims.
You are speaking for the victims.
Is it the victims or the survivors that hate?"Hate the sin but love the sinner" is a beautiful rule to follow in most of our dealings with others.
But is is ok to be selective?
Leviticus 20:27 "...they shall stone them with stones..."
How many "commandments" are in the Koran and how many do you follow?But when it comes to those who torture and murder without qualm, who are pitiless in the pain they inflict on others — when it comes to such people, hatred is no sin.
And do those who you judge thusly thing the same of the Jews?Is an utterly evil man — Hitler, Stalin, Osama bin Laden — deserving of a theist's love? I could never stomach such a notion...
And I guess that includes Arafat. But what is a "theist's love"?
If you met G_d in the parlor and he told you to love the doer of evil but not his actions.
Would you stomach it then? Or does "never" mean never, no matter what?Hatred is dangerous even when justified,
even when not justified"We who hate must be wary," he writes, "lest we . . . become like those we are taught to despise."
And who will recognize the becoming?But when hatred is called for, he notes, it serves a vital function. "Hate allows us to keep our guard up, to protect us.
What it does is "protect us" from experience the feelings of loss,
though only by degree. Grieving can heal the heart,
while hate keeps it an open wound.*
Here is a letter to the editor of our local newspaper:
I believe that for over two years, political speech has worked to destroy civility in America. Some people who were seen as friends will now become life-long enemies. Some things that were said or written will never be forgiven.The hate speech and personal attacks continue, never allowing facts to get in the way of shallow accusations without proof.
For almost 150 years, the fabric of our nation has not been so threatened or contaminated.
Until now, the slaughter of citizens and destruction of property during our last "in-house" disagreement was an effective reminder of the price we all pay when separate views are replaced by hate.
When 700,000 men lay dead, the only winner was hate.
Before the division is too vast to heal, the hate merchants might consider if potential consequences of their conduct can be justified by the results of an election.
The history of our human species is warring, sometimes over land, sometimes over a source of water, and the rest of the time over who's religion is the "true" religion of one deity - while these various religions await the 'end times' , each expect to be judged righteous.
If Sharon traces his heritage back to Abraham via Isaac and Arafat traces his heritage back to Ishmel, and these brothers, Isaac and Ishmel reunited at their father's death can their descendants not reunite in life?
In the name of G_d, Jeff Jacoby, speak of paths to peace.
interviews
editorials
How to Grow Vegetables
