Why Do People Hate?
As we have witnessed in the past few weeks – hatred is alive in our world. Fact is, it has always been here – we simply tamp it down for a while, then it erupts again.
Hatred is an evil that has cursed planet earth, due to the fallen nature of mankind. We are born sinners – and if that heart issue is not corrected, it will lead to a “learned attitude and a learned behavior”. Hatred is both taught and caught. If you live around it – surround yourself with it – it seeps into the very core of your being.
America has toiled with the 'demon' of racism for a long time. There is great distrust among the races. We notice it more than probably any other nation – for we are the ‘smelting pot’ of all the racial divisions of the human race. Due to the refugee crisis in Europe and other countries, we are witnessing the revival of hatred and distrust all over the world, in a new dimension.
What are the roots of hatred? The obvious, simplistic answer is Sin. But, we need to look deeper. I see three roots (there are more) that are obvious to me:
1. Hurt
It’s an old cliché - “hurt people hurt people”. This is so true. We have all been hurt by the actions of others – circumstances have crushed us – somebody has said something to deeply offend us. People who do not know how to handle hurt, will lash out at anything and everything in their path. They are offended, and they readily pick up the offense of others, and away they go --- angrily lashing out. Hurts that are not addressed and handled properly are like a wound that is not bandaged and then becomes infected. We have a lot of hurt in America and a lot of hurt people. Deal with your hurt before it becomes a cancer! This is where the spiritual disciplines of prayer and forgiveness go a long way to cure the hurt, lest it becomes hatred.
2. Insecurity
When you look closely at the actions and words of people who are hating, you will discover a very low self-esteem and a very insecure person – one who really doesn’t like himself and takes that out on everyone else in his life. Insecurity leads again to lashing out --- hating others because you actually are hating yourself. We have a tendency to put others down around us when we don’t think well enough of who we are. People without purpose and meaning in life – no sense of significance – hate others – and actually all this thought and philosophy of “supremacy” (I’m better than you) is nothing more than insecurity. Once again, the spiritual disciplines of love, knowing who God made you to be, and prayer can bring such security to a person – and the hatred cannot stay.
3. Prejudice
By definition, prejudice is merely “pre-judgment” of something or someone. Children are not born with prejudice – it is caught and taught. When a person judges others – without judging himself – it leads to a feeling of superiority and greater self-worth than is necessary --- thus, causing opinions which lead to actions of prejudice toward another --- either by education, class, race, gender ---- on and on it goes….. I’ve heard it said, “there is no Black race – no White race – no Hispanic race, etc. – just the HUMAN race” Let’s stop judging one another! The Scriptures tell us that “if we judge ourselves, we will not be judged”. I don’t have time to judge you – I’m too busy handling me! When we stop prejudice – we go a long way in stopping hatred in our land.
What do you think?
