----- Forwarded message begin ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ============================================================ Join memolink.com and get FREE gift certificates to Wal*Mart, Target, Best Buy, Olive Garden and more! http://click.topica.com/caaac5Ra84xGVa9qD49a/Memolink ============================================================ Please understand that what I'm about to say is not a flame at anyone. It's a nasty hard truth that -- thankfully -- most people we come in contact with find impossible to integrate into their belief systems. Every one of us has, at one time or another, been certain that we hate/hated something or someone. But -- luckily for our sanity -- it hasn't been true. We've been disgusted, frustrated, filled with dislike, angry enough to stomp something/someone into the ground. But that is not hatred. Most of us have, at one time or another, been certain that we have been in absolute blinding love with someone, or some concept. Luckily -- for our sanity -- "in love" either resolves into "loving" and is sustainable, or "in love" goes away and the scars heal pretty well. Few of us -- very few of us -- have ever experienced true hatred first hand. Hatred, pure burning hatred, is the only thing around that can consume a person body & soul the way "being in love" can. Hatred is a palpable _thing_ you can feel as you walk into a room or drive down the street, just like you can sense that someone is 'head over heels in love' with someone. I've felt hatred aimed at me. It was the worst thing I've ever experienced. What made it worse still was that it was aimed at me for the pure and simple reason that my skin was white and my hair was light and I apparently drove down a 'wrong street' as far as some people were concerned. The hatred radiated out from a group of two or three people, hit me like a sledge hammer when one man turned to stare at me. He didn't even have to move toward me, or raise a hand, to make me feel it. That personal experience of being hated just for existing is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Some others who read IMNSHO may have felt hatred because they lived in a land torn by religious wars -- like Bosnia. Others may have felt something similar because of their own belief structure, or skin color, or the fact that they are "richer" than someone else. But what I'm talking about isn't prejudice, isn't rudeness, isn't even a mob deciding to destroy everything that they don't personally have. The reason I brought up love and being in love is that they are the only things that come close to taking a person over like hate does. For someone who has never personally experienced hatred, it's hard to understand that some of the terms used are not 'poetic license' but truths, terms like "all consuming," "burning," "blind," are inadequate to describe pure hatred. Perhaps "pure" is the most accurate descriptor. Unlike "being in love" -- when someone does remember to eat, to get dressed before going out in public, that there are other relationships both business and social -- pure hatred takes a person over completely. The only relationships those who hate can maintain, outside of their hatred, is worship of whatever fanatic or fanatical idea granted them permission to hate and continues to validate their hate. They may have "brothers" in their hatred, but if one who hates has to choose between the hatred and the "brother" then hatred always, ALWAYS, wins out. Hatred burns out all semblance of sanity, consumes the spirit, and thrives on pain and destruction. The only cure for hatred is death, and those who hate seem to know this and even welcome it -- for hatred is painful and overwhelming and all encompassing. Even contemplating hatred, talking honestly about pure hatred, can sicken and weaken a person ... because hatred is faceless, and we are faceless to those who hate us. Some -- including 99.999% of politicians and leaders -- will ask, "What did we do to deserve such hatred?" They will look for things to fix so that the hatred will end. It won't work. All hatred requires is a target, and there is no way to become a non-target except through allowing ourselves to be destroyed... and even then the hatred won't end until those who hate are all dead. And that is why, hopefully, it will happen again. Because the only way we can possibly act strongly enough, continuously enough, completely enough to wipe out this type of hate filled terrorists, is to allow ourselves to gain the single-minded strength of hatred equal to or exceeding their hatred. And if we allow that to happen, we don't deserve to continue living as a nation, as a people, as individuals. It's not a matter of hatred defying understanding. It's a matter of understanding that hatred needs no rationale to thrive. And I'm not saying "Don't fight back!" I'm simply saying that no matter how hard we try, no matter how many "friends around the world" the USA may have, no matter how much money and how many resources are devoted to a "War on Terrorism," we can't win the war. At best, we can win a few "battles" and learn how to better protect ourselves from hatred's consequences. Someone may ask, "Why don't we end the conditions which cause people to hate us?" My sad reply must be, "Because even if everyone in the world had enough food, plenty of clean water, a home of their own to live in, privacy and security, aloneness and togetherness to the extent desired by each, it would not end hatred. I can't prove there is a God ... but I don't have to prove to anyone that EVIL exists, has always existed, and apparently will always exist -- because it's all around us, and we can't do a damn thing that works to get rid of it once an for all. What we can do, and must do, is work to keep hatred and evil out of our lives, and the lives of those we love. What we can do, and must do, is condemn hatred in any size/shape/color/flavor guise -- even that of "justice." IMNSHO Like It Is ---Sponsor's Message------------------------------------ Do you want to show support for America? Then show support for American companies. Buy at least one share of stock to help the economy. Profits go to Red Cross. http://click.topica.com/caaadoya84xGVa9qD49f/oneshare -------------------------------------------------------- ----------==== *** ===---------- For those responding via e-mail to anything on IMNSHO: 1. I will read every piece of e-mail received, with the possible exception of "form letters." 2. I will not flame anyone; in fact, I will not even mention initials -- let alone names. 3. After I have read the mail and/or written about the feedback, those e-mails (and e-mail addresses) will be deleted from my HDD. 4. Please feel free to disagree with me, and if you do a good job of it you _may_ see yourself "in print," albeit anonymously. -------------- Did you receive _In_My_Not_So_Humble_Opinion_ from a friend? Would you like to subscribe so each randomly timed commentary is sure to end up in your personal e-mail inbox? Send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or go to http://www.topica.com/lists/IMNSHO/ and join there. -------------- Copyright 2001 - Like It Is, IMNSHO. All rights reserved. ALL broadcast, publication, retransmission to the internet, WWW, e-mail lists, or private websites, OR copying or storage in any medium, online or not, is strictly prohibited without **prior** written permission. You may circulate this column, via manual forwarding as e-mail, to friends -- as long as the ENTIRE text is forwarded, from the first line to the dotted line following this notice, and if you aren't charging a fee. 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