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Hatred: One of Man's Worst Enemies

Man is an interesting specimen. He can talk, shout, laugh, cry, touch, smell, taste, hear, and see. He also has feelings and emotions, of which the latter needs more control than the former. Unlike feelings, emotions have a more profound effect on not only the man's senses, but his entire body. His heart skips a beat or two when he falls in love, but breaks when misery opens the door to it. Over time, though, such emotions may overcome the senses of that particular person. One of these emotions, amongst several, has adverse affects on man and his well-being in general.

That emotion is hate. Hatred sends a chill down one's spine, and fills one's bloodstream with a venom more poisonous than that of a cobra; it eats up the heart and cheats the mind. Hatred is an enemy in itself, and one of man's worst enemies ever since time immemorial. With it, all other emotions are sidelined, and the person is overcome with a desire to hate more... just for the sake of hating. Hatred is accompanied by many other negative themes, such as arrogance, greed, and other inhumane values like racism.

What makes hatred dangerous is that like the beautiful emotion of love, it can consume someone if he/she doesn't control it. The venom of hatred, if allowed to run a lot through your bloodstream, will clog your reasoning, blind you to extreme prejudice, and choke you with contempt... to an extent that it can lead to even adverse physical and psychological conditions that need to be treated as soon as they come up. While romantic love may be a precursor to an intimate relationship or marriage, hatred is a precursor to crime; this makes hatred not only an enemy to the one who has that certain emotion, but also to the subjects of that hatred. If anything, the most hateful persons are those who are most unsuccessful, and those who are most isolated from society, because their preoccupation with hate has hindered their other capabilities, hobbies, etc.

Hatred is also the hallmark of racism: without hatred, much of today's racism would only appear physically (immigration control laws, for example), not mentally and/or give one the sense of being hated by another person or group, etc. Over the timeline of world history, hatred played a crucial role in racist imperialism/imperialist racism, where natives of a certain country are subjected to hate crimes and violence on part of a colonialist power just because they were the inhabitants of land that the colonialists wanted to settle in. South Africa, Palestine, Darfur and other places are prime examples of this.

But what leads someone to hate are two things: ignorance, then fear. When someone is unknowledgeable about a certain person or group of people, it leads to ignorance. Apartheid and other forms of segregation, even not meeting such people face to face, are catalysts of such ignorance. Ignorance then leads to fear of the certain subject, because they appear "different". Whatever is different does not conform to your values or your feelings, etc. Fear then leads to hatred for that certain entity. Why? Fear only sustains itself in one person's mind if the object of fear is caught up in an experience with those who fear it, but it fades away when the segregation stays and self-confidence takes an awry turn for the worse, by giving the person who fears the certain object a sense of dominance or rivalry with the object. When such feelings reach an apex, hatred takes over.

Hatred is an unavoidable fact of life. We will all hate something once in a while, but too often do we find ourselves occupied with the object of hate. Well, what to do in such a case? The first is to believe in humanity, or develop a belief in it; better yet, build up a love for humanity. Second, if a perceieved enemy that you hate commits a contemptable action that fuels the fire of your hatred, change your position: if you're sitting, stand up or lie down, etc. Allow the blood to flow evenly, and don't let it choke you up. Moreover, if you find yourself thinking too much about your object of hate, think about something else, or do something that would keep your mind occupied with what you normally think about. Read a book, watch some TV, or play a video game (but not a violent one, because that only serves to add to the hate).

There's a lot more to this topic, but that's all I can say for now. Hatred is an enemy in itself, and one of man's worst enemies. Sure, you might hate someone or something, but don't let it control you, because if you do, you might lose a lot: your money, your family, your sanity... even your life.

Salaam, from
Saracen

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