WILL HATE EVER END? -An Epidemic of Hate

HATE seems to be all around us today.  Such names as East Timor, Kosovo, Liberia, Littleton, and Sarajevo-as well as neo-Nazi, skinhead, and white supremacist-have  been etched in our minds along with lingering images of charred ruins, freshly dug mass graves, and dead bodies.

Dreams of a future free of hate, conflict, and violence have been shattered.  Danielle Mitterand, wife of the late French president, remembered about her youth:  "People dreamed of living freely in a fraternal society they could trust; of being at one with themselves living among and with others;  they dreamed of living healthy, peaceful and dignified lives is a strong and generous world that watched over them."  What happened to those ideals? She lamented:  "Half a century later, our dream has admittedly come under attack." 

The present resurgence of hate simply cannot be ignored. It is more widespread, and it is appearing in increasingly blatant forms.  The sense of an individual security that millions take for granted had been compromised by a wave of senseless acts of hate, each seemingly  more horrific than the preceding one.  Even if we are spared hate in our home or our country, it lies elsewhere. We probably  see evidence of it every day on the television screen in news and current affairs broadcasts.  Some of of it has evens spilled over to the Internet. Consider a few examples.

The last decade has seen an unprecedented rise of nationalism.  "Nationalism," observed Joseph S. Nye Jr., director of the Harvard Center for International Affairs, "is becoming stronger in most of the world, not weaker. Instead of one global village there are villages  around the globe more aware of each other.  That, in turn, increases the opportunities for conflict." 

Next time: Conclusion of Will Hate Ever End? -An Epidemic of Hate

From the Watchtower magazine, 2004