The power of hatred

Much has been written about last month’s violence in Paris. As a columnist and host of a radio show where I express my political, philosophic and religious opinions, I have been absorbed with the coverage of the attacks.  The world is stunned and searching for answers.  What motivates such behaviors and how can they be stopped?

While these events, among other 21st century events, present unprecedented challenges, the treacherous acts they perpetrate have been demonstrated throughout history.  Modern technology has provided a means for extremists to rapidly spread their message of hate. Video coverage has brought their violent actions into our living rooms. These images titillate like-minded individuals, particularly young people, and they join in the drama.

The search for the cause is elusive. Does it rise out poverty, a sense of alienation, an inability to fit in? Are these radicals looking to be a part of something greater than themselves? Does it stem from a warped desire to ‘matter’ like the young student who finds negative attention better than no attention at all? It would seem prudent to reflect on history and the role of hatred in the human experience and why it is perpetuated.

Psychologists say hatred, like depression, is really anger turned in on itself. It is an innate human emotion; Hatred and bigotry are as much a part of the human experience as flying is to humming birds. It provokes some to find relief in the form of a perceived enemy that must be destroyed. Perhaps acts such as those in Paris stem, as some observers have suggested,  from a misguided search for an escape from the tedium and rage in their own lives. Relief comes in joining a like-minded community that promises empowerment.

Most importantly these groups champion a cause,  an ‘enemy,’ at which to direct their rage. The terrorists in Paris found a community of believers and were seduced by the corrupted teachings of the Koran advanced by radical clerics.

This phenomenon did not begin with nor is it limited to the Middle East. Throughout history hate groups have attached themselves to any cause/enemy that they can demonize and exploit to their advantage. They are not limited to one sect, religion, or ethnic group.

Man’s internal struggle between the forces of good and evil is a recurrent theme in philosophy, spiritual enlightenment, religion and literature. The Christian Bible personifies this struggle through the story of Adam and Eve. In William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies,” for which he won The Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983, Mr. Golding posits that all humanity have an innate capacity for evil but not all choose to act on their evil impulses.

Golding denounces those who search for outside forces – social, political or religious – to explain why some humans carry out such depraved acts.  Rather, he suggests that, “evil springs from the depths of man himself.” and anger/hatred is an innate human emotion that humans have the capacity to control. Short of a universal awakening to the rewards of peace and the futility of war, the best solution is a world-wide understanding that teaches tolerance and civility, that provides a guide to control inner demons and develops a system to control the most deviant.

Returning to recent events, I am concerned by the sudden impassioned response to the rampage of a  small group of Jihadist living in Paris. European leaders walked arm in arm with representatives from the Middle East in a show of solidarity. In reality, the West is a large part of the problem.

Western nations, primarily the United States, spend billions of dollars waging wars we cannot win. When our armies retreat we leave a fortune of sophisticated weaponry and machinery behind because it is too expensive to transport home.  Now our military, armed with a new supply of arms, face off against an army that is equally well equipped.

Wars and rumors of wars fostered by bigotry and hatred will not end until we the people of the world, as a whole, decide we have had enough and declare in the words of Chief Joseph we will fight no more forever! Yes this is a dreamers dream and it is one I will not give up, so help me God!