When is it alright to hate?

Discussion in 'Ethics, Morality, & Justice' started by oiram, Jun 6, 2009.

  1. oiram Registered Senior Member

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    To hate a person based on their race is considered “wrong” as well as it is considered wrong to hate a person based on the their sexual preference, but these are things that those people have no control over, and thus the reason why it’s wrong to hate them for these things.

    So when does hate become acceptable?

    What about hating a person for their beliefs? Where is the line drawn? When is it alright to hate?
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    When you do stupid things. Like leave your wallet at home when you go out to dinner or forgetting your spouses birthday.
     
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  5. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

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    Hate is a feeling, not something you decide to "do".
     
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  7. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Well I hate doing stupid things in my life.
     
  8. oiram Registered Senior Member

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    Oh ok then it’s alright to hate others because they are black, or gay or whatever it may be, because it is a feeling
     
  9. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    It is okay to have feelings. They're part of who you are and they're hard to change. What's wrong is to act on those feelings if the act violates another person's rights--as defined in your constitution, your common law, your traditions, or however your particular country is run.

    Here in the USA it is illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of their race, religion, and various other attributes in business. But it is not illegal in private life. You're free to choose your friends according to any feelings you have, but not your customers or employees. For example, if you own a rental house, you can't refuse to rent it to people whose race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, etc., you don't like. But if you're renting out a room in your own home and the tenant will become a part of your personal life, you can apply any criteria you want.

    Whether hate is "acceptable," even when it's legal, is a pretty broad question. Is it okay to hate people who let their children run rampant? Then is it okay to hate people who are simply overworked and try to control their children but fail? Then is it okay to hate people who have children at all because they all run rampant occasionally? Then is it okay to hate people who can't have children but encourage others to have them?
     
  10. superstring01 Moderator

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    Hmmm. I'm not sure that's a national policy, though I do gather your meaning.

    I know in places like Texas and Utah, there's no such protection for gay people.

    ~String
     
  11. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    Yeah well fuck those places. I'm talking about civilization.

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  12. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    You can hate a persons beliefs, but you don't need to hate the person themselves. An ideology is not part of a person, it's a separate entity.
     
  13. oiram Registered Senior Member

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    Tell that to a pedophile

    I guess it’s alright to hate them, and discriminate against them as most people do anyway even in housing and employment.

    I have never hated Hitler, while others hate him and everything he stands for. I can see him differently and would argue his misguided genius, while others consider him the anti Christ, I guess we are all different

    If it’s not alright to hate then I cannot hate even those people who hate.
     
  14. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    It's alright to feel hatred. But it's not alright to act on it in any way unless there is a consensus that's says it's alright to do so.
     
  15. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    It's alright to hate a person for what they do (something they have control over), not what they are (black, asian, gay, whatever)
     
  16. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    Would you really want to rent from someone who hated you for being gay? Take it a step further, would you want to work for someone forced to hire you but who hates you because you're gay? How hard is it to find a reason to fire someone you hate and make it look like it was their own fault? Write them up several times, make sure there's a paper trail. Maybe change their schedule without telling them and then write them up for being late or a no call/no show.. Now you've got a black mark on your record because some bigot was forced to hire you and then made up a reason to fire you.
     
  17. EmmZ It's an animal thing Registered Senior Member

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    I think it's "alright" to hate your own delusions. To hate your own greed, jealousy, malice etc. I think it's understandable to hate people who have hurt you, or who may hurt you, or hurt those you care about, but that's not to say that hatred is a good thing, it's just a human reaction. Working on that hatred is something quite spectacular.
     
  18. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Hatred is irrational

    Hatred is irrational. That's the underlying problem. If we hate bigotry, we won't address it responsibly.

    In that context, hatred is never acceptable.

    But in a broader context, yes, it is fair to hold someone accountable for their beliefs. There are often mitigating circumstances, but it doesn't change the fact of hatred.

    And, as Fraggle noted, what goes on in any person's mind is their business. But beyond that, are they acting on that hatred? Madanthonywayne has hit the point exactly: there is a difference between what we do (choose) and are.

    However ....

    • • •​

    The question is actually gaining validity these days, as the civil rights situation for homosexuals changes and public attitudes evolve. But it hasn't always been a fair question. And, even today, there are places in this country where people still don't have much of a choice. I mean, there's always a choice, but I've never liked the whole "pack up and move" bit. You know, as if a black waitress in Alabama could really afford to pack up her kids and move to, I don't know, San Francisco or Seattle. Hell, there are people out in the east half of Washington who just can't afford to uproot their family in order to move to more tolerant climes.

    But, yes, in the modern day the question gains validity. Still, though, let's turn it around. We all have spiteful fantasies, and when I was younger I always liked the idea of running a movie studio and refusing to hire Christians. Really, the deeper one gets into the religion, the less their value as a writer. And, hell, if someone objects to working on a movie that includes nonmarital intimacy, drug use, or whatever, I don't need them on the lot.

    Would that be fair? Of course not.

    Or not promote them, maybe?

    Don't get me wrong, I understand the point, and even agree that it is correct, but these are the sorts of things that end up in lawsuits, and in many cases, people of similar political outlooks as yours complain about the complaints. That assessment, of course, depends on the range of cases we include under the rubric.
     
  19. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    Tell WHAT to a pedophile? :shrug:
     
  20. Crunchy Cat F-in' *meow* baby!!! Valued Senior Member

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    You are free to hate anybody at anytime for any reason. If you take destructive action against people based on your hate then you will be jailed and / or killed. If you take discriminatory action against people based on your hate then there might be negative financial consequences for you (depending on the circumstances).
     
  21. GeoffP Caput gerat lupinum Valued Senior Member

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    Actually, this would also be hate.
     
  22. EmmZ It's an animal thing Registered Senior Member

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    When I read this it made me question whether or not it was actually hatred or intolerance. I think one can be intolerant of someone, or of an idea but not necessarily hate it. For me, hatred is an extreme of feeling, intolerance is a much more movable viewpoint.

    I also wonder why religion might be a cause for someone's writing to be less valuable? Unless, of course, someone is seeking to read a specific area of belief. Are we talking about spirituality being something that becomes devalued if communicated?
     
  23. The Esotericist Getting the message to Garcia Valued Senior Member

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    Indeed, as Bebelina stated, "hate" is a feeling, not something you choose to do. You can choose to hold grudges, and choose to not offer forgiveness and the like, but ill will is yours alone to live with.

    Concerning the social acceptability of the display of hatred? It seems clear from this board, that within certain parameters of narcissism, hate is still a wholly allowable and a condoned emotion. I really don't think people are none to aware of the toxicity of this emotion. Mostly, IMO, I believe it is due to the way the modern state educates the individual, with the emphasis placed on the individual, and competition, rather than a knowledge that we are all connected. If people were more aware that the feeling of hate does more to destroy and consume with negativity the person engaging in such feelings, they would make a more concerted effort to reach out, and gain knowledge and understanding of that which they "hate." Instead, most are caught up in the game of the ego, separated and cut off from the rest of the wholeness that is life. Only existing in this "separated" state can hate exist. Could you hate your arm, or your leg? Only if you did not know it was part of your body.

    For, in reality, hate stems from both ignorance, and fear. Only in these does hatred live and breath. Once wisdom and light are shined upon the object of hatred, only then, can a sense of acceptance, and allowance be achieved. Solutions and understanding, instead of only more questions, can only be garnered in the presence of love, never in the presence of hatred.

    What I put to you, is a mental exercise. Imagine if you will, that the whole of humanity, much like the internet, could share all of it's knowledge with each other; but instead of having to type it out, or place it some form we need to look at in a stored medium, we could exchange our knowledge telepathically. And. . . we would all have instant recall of everything we had ever known and ever experienced. We then would necessarily have instant access to everything anyone else on the planet has ever known and had ever experienced.

    Would lying be possible? How about deception of any kind? Would it be advisable? And what about "hateful thoughts"? Would it not then be advisable to seek out the root of why and how we hate? Certainly in such a world there would be incalculable advantages undreamed of. But at what cost? There would be no more privacy in any way, that is for sure. And yet. . . There would never be anymore betrayal. No more cheating. No more affairs. No more corruption and scandals. An end to malfeasance. And indeed. . . it would seem, hatred would be no more, would it not? No matter what anyone thinks or feels about it, I do believe that this scenario, one way or another, is coming. Either through evolution, or technology.

    The inescapable conclusion? WE ARE ONE, and hatred is a toxic emotion that stems from ignorance and fear. It serves only to remind the bearer of said emotion that lessons are still needing to be learned, for the one being harmed the most by the hatred is the one who feels it.
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2009

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