What Martin Luther said could be a way to deal with the growing polarization and hatred in our society today. Some of us ask, why are hate movements on the rise that seek to divide us? Is this a failure of those who love?
We need working definitions to answer this:
Hatred: egoistic, self-centred, harmful intentions and actions — focused on self-fulfillment and self-benefit.
Love: equally powerful but positive, altruistic intentions and actions — not concerned with self-fulfillment at any cost; focused on mutual care, compassion and concern for one another.
It feels like hatred of the “other” are perpetuating hate movements. Divisions are growing because we have egoistic attitudes toward one another—instead of showing mutual care and concern for each other, we are constantly engaged in self-fulfillment and looking out for ourselves, even if most of us are not vocal like those in the fringe movements that are gradually taking space in the mainstream.
The good news is that once we understand the root cause of growing hatred (egoism), we can begin to desire the opposite of hate: love (altruism).
We can be powerful in our response to growing hate if we align ourselves with the rest of our interconnected system, which acts altruistically—seeking to maintain balance, harmony and acceptance between all living and non-living parts. There is no way a sound mind can reject and hate other human beings merely because of their skin colour or faith, or any different identity.
#hate #hatecrimes #whitesupremacy #extremism #compassion