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What Should We HATE?

What Should We HATE?

Last updated on: May 6, 2024 at 10:27 am by Matthew Distefano

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What Should We HATE? 2024-05-06T10:27:13-06:00 Matthew Distefano

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If this week has taught me anything, it’s that I’m not a big enough hater. Damn. Kendrick Lamar really does NOT like Drake. And to be honest, I’m here for all of it.

But before assuming I’m here to chime in on the rap beef–I’m not Black, so not only would it be out of pocket to comment on a lot of the sub-contexts present in the feud, as a guest in their house, it’s my job to listen more than speak on the issue–I’m here to actually ruminate on the question: what should we hate?

If you are a Christian, then your natural reaction could be that we should hate nothing. We are to love. Love our neighbors. Love our God. Love our enemies.

Fair enough.

But hate isn’t necessarily the opposite of love. Apathy seems more apropos. For instance, if love is an action verb, apathy often stands in love’s way–in helping the poor, in aiding the afflicted, in working toward ending war, and poverty, and hunger. Speaking of these things, shouldn’t we hate them? Shouldn’t we hate war? Shouldn’t we hate poverty? Shouldn’t we hate that so many go hungry?

In America, as we watch swaths of Christians drag Christ’s name through the mud with their anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-DEI legislation, are we also not supposed to feel some kind of hate? A hate that despises the fact that people will suffer under their fascistic draconian laws?

Often–and this has been true for me, so take it for what it is–the key is to not witness our hatred bleed into a hatred for the person themself. We must separate the two. If our hatred for the suffering caused by victimizers turns into hatred for others, for example, we risk becoming the monster in the mirror (to riff off Nietzsche).

Now, I’m not here to universally tell victims not to hate their victimizers. That’s not my place. At all. I just caution that if we hold onto hatred for our fellow human, there are consequences–natural, yet oftentimes unforeseen consequences. Whether that’s fair or not, it is what it is.

So, I suppose the main takeaway is this: find balance. Instead of pitting hate and love against each other, perhaps we need to realize we all are a bit of both. And perhaps that’s exactly how it should be. We hate racism because we love our Black family and friends. We hate homophobia because we love LGBTQ+ folks. We hate war because we love peace. We hate misogyny because we love women. And so on…

The question is what do we do with our love and hate? Do we take action for the betterment of others, or do we harbor ill will for others? I challenge more Christians to do the former, and repent of the latter.

Peace.

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Politics and Religion

About Matthew John Distefano

Matthew J. Distefano is an author, blogger, podcaster, and publisher. He lives in Northern California with his wife and daughter You can read more about the author here.

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