WHAT IS THE NEW AMERICAN FOUR LETTER WORD? GABRIEL GUARNICA
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.8961/pub_detail.asp
I once debated with a friend over which was the most over-used word in American society. In the end, we agreed that words such as love, unity, genius, and special do tend to get thrown around like ketchup at a picnic. After all, the media splashes us with these words to the point where we get nauseous using them even when appropriate.
Having had some more time to ponder this issue, however, I have come to the conclusion that the most over-used word in present American society is likewise its newest curse word…….hate.
Now do not get me wrong; hate is not the best word in the world, and one does best to avoid feeling or using it at all possible, but that is just the point. Rather than teaching us to avoid hate and to work to reduce or hopefully eliminate such feelings or their source when we feel them, the present society and powers-that-be fan the flames of hate and selfishly use hate as a tool to further their agenda rather than depict it as an evil itself.
In the past, we were taught to minimize and work through feelings of hate so as to control such feelings in our lives. We were told that while it may be normal to find our feelings about issues or people inflamed from time to time, we must rise above such fevered passion and seize the reigns of those feelings so as to control and focus our efforts.
Used with care and focused determination, hatred can be a powerful and productive force. After all, it was hatred of unfairness and a lack of freedom that fueled our own independence. It was hatred of slavery and divided national economic and social priorities that fueled our nation through a painful Civil War and into a greater, if not always steady, unity moving forward. Finally, it was hatred of racial and gender discrimination that has fueled the movements to enhance the rights of racial minorities and women.
On an individual level, we may rise to prosperity through hatred of poverty. We may achieve great educational success through the flames of hating ignorance and its consequences. We can reach great athletic victories precisely because we have come to productively hate the feeling of defeat.
While effectively used hatred of negative things can be used as a great motivator for good, irresponsibly manipulated and widely dispersed hatred can likewise be used as a great trigger for evil. Thus, we see the popular media tell us that we cannot disagree with one of its preferred views unless we are filled with hate. They tell us that criticism of any preferred leader or position is akin to hating said person or position or what this person or position represents. We are expected to welcome any form of tolerance pushed by so-called progressives lest we exhibit some form of narrow-minded hatred of some kind, benevolent, all wonderful person, position, or view.
The biggest difference between the use of hatred in the past and its present use in our current society and media culture is that, in the past, hatred of wrong was used as a motivator for good. In contrast, hatred is now used not to motivate, but to isolate, propagate, censor and bully. It is used much as many use racism today which is, simply put, as a hammer to beat down opposition and silence criticism.
Truly courageous and noble leaders and people do not need to use hatred as a vehicle, weapon, or tool to push their agenda. They rely on the virtue and sincerity of their motives, arguments, and positions to demonstrate the validity of their agenda. If they ever use hate as all, it is as an occasional condiment to flavor their arguments against some negative or disliked position, situation, or even person representing such positions. I can hate discrimination, poverty, injustice, national betrayal, political manipulation, or cowardice and speak out against those who exhibit such negative traits.
It is when hatred itself is used as a weapon of censorship and manipulation, however, that its powerfully pervasive potential for noble use is tarnished by selfishness, greed and, above all, brazen cowardice. After all, any imbecile can argue a weak position, push a biased agenda, or betray the national interest while hiding behind the mantle of hatred to deflect any accusations or criticisms as mere hatred. In that sense, the accusation of hatred ultimately becomes the weapon of choice of the weak, the superficial, the arrogant, the ignorant, and the cowardly. Given the rather undistinguished character traits of those who propagate hate to further their agenda, it is a wonder why any sane voter would choose such people over anyone else.
Students of history will recall that accusing opponents of hate is one of the key tools used by despots and tyrants to maintain their clutches on power. Through such methods such people re-direct the public’s attention from their own abundant deficiencies to the supposed deficiencies of their opponents or critics.
If present and future voters want a good litmus test to measure the various positions and candidates before them, they can do no better than to merely ask if such positions and candidates strive to limit and control hate, or actually work to fan and spread hate, to spread their agenda and goals. I would hate to think of the consequences for our children’s future if we fail to properly assess how our future leaders approach hate.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Gabriel Garnica, Esq., is a college professor and licensed attorney whose regular commentary also appears on NewMediaJournal.us, Michnews and various Internet journals.
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