Don’t Join Because Of Hate
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Apr 20, 2010
A couple of days ago, I got a notice via email that someone new was following me on Twitter. That happens often, and many times I check and find that the person following me isn't being very social at all.
In this case, the person wasn't all that social, but did talk to a few people. However, what I saw in a couple of messages bothered me. This was a young person, but many of his comments were about hating a certain young male singer with a hashtag. For those unfamiliar with the term, hashtags are used on Twitter to keep certain topics segregated so that they can be followed by anyone who wishes to participate in the process.
On a fluke, I decided to check out this hashtag to see how many other people were using it, and it turns out there were quite a few. And the comments were fairly mean, and I decided I wasn't following this person.
Anyone on Facebook who has ever checked out the groups knows that there are a lot of negative groups on there also. Many groups hate someone or something, and that's pretty bad if you ask me. I could never conceive of joining any group because it advocated hate against someone or something. For instance, many groups are created to protest Facebook changes. I can understand why people like some thing a certain way that they've gotten used to, because I don't like everything they do. But joining a group that says I hate it; just not my style.
I tend to believe that if you adopt a negative stance on something, even if it's for a good cause, that you have to bring yourself down a level instead of push yourself forward. I would join a group whose message said "support" something rather than any group whose message said "hate" something, even if that message was to hate racism, poverty, or something else. I'd rather "fight" or "help eliminate" than "hate".
Are my terms just semantic or do terms actually carry some meaning, no matter how subtle or subliminal, that need to be avoided as much as possible? What are your thoughts?
As emotions go, they don’t come much more negative than hate. Hatred is insidious in that it feeds on itself and very quickly becomes viral and contagious.
When you hate someone, all you’ve got is two people that feel really bad about themselves. And neither of them are motivated to fix whatever might have been wrong (if there was anything wrong).
The words that we use play a very significant role in our thoughts, attitudes, and emotions. Because of that, we should always choose our words very carefully, even if the difference is only very subtle, it can have a huge impact. And not just on ourselves, but on those that we are directing our words at.
I’m with you, Mitch, I’d be more inclined to join a “help eliminate” group than any “hate” group too.
Kind regards,
Steve.
.-= Steve Youngs´s last blog ..The Success Cycle =-.
Thanks for your comment, Steve. I know that I sometimes say that I “hate” something or someone, but I know it’s more of a dislike, and that, unless it was extreme, I’d never wish anything really bad to happen to any of these people. But overall, I’d rather be with groups advocating something good than something bad, even if that bad was supposed to end up being something good.
Difference between hating and helping to eliminate is that when it comes to popular figures, the latter is more likely to get you arrested than the former.
Helping to eliminate really awful music, however, is a cause that I’m sure many could get behind. 😀
Many possibly could, Horst, except one person’s awful music is another person’s love. And in a way, it’s better being arrested than it is being killed. That’s how the civil rights movement worked here during the early 60’s, although there were still some folks who were killed. But the spirit of “We Shall Overcome” was strong.
I think it is a case of some people not paying attention to what they are focusing on. When we focus on hate, we attract more hate into our lives.
Mother Teresa said “I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.”
.-= Rachel Lavern´s last blog ..How to Develop Belief =-.
I’ve seen that quote, Rachel, and I absolutely agree with it. Hate is too easy to fall into, and I have to try to remind myself every day to not think of hate, but think of making positive changes. Sometimes, I’ll admit, it’s not easy to do.