God hates fags. Burn the Qur’an. The
president is a Muslim socialist. Jews control the media.
Immigrants are invading America...
Hate is as American as apple pie. A sentiment stitched
into the fabric of national life from the early
stirrings of Revolution in the colonies (they hated the
old rulers across the Atlantic) to contemporary feelings
about the government (we hate the rulers in Congress).
What’s most striking about this embedded and endemic
force circulating through the body politic for all these
years is just how valuable hatred can be for some
segments of our culture; so valuable that hatred can be
sacred for some.
Perhaps religion itself, at some early evolutionary
point in human history, emerged not as an outgrowth of
altruism or loving bonds between community members, but
rather as a result of hateful differences between
groups. Religion has a rich history of promoting hate
and gaining rewards from this hatred: more faithful
adherents for sure, but also at times material wealth,
political power, and social authority. The notion that
religion contributes to the social emphasis on hate and
plays a role in the effervescent energies devoted to
stirring up hateful sentiment is elementary to many
students and observers on the subject. In the U.S., hate
is a driver constantly shaping and reshaping the
religious landscape.
Case in point: Just look at how hate brought the
religious margins directly into the mainstream, as was
recently evident with the planned Qur’an burning in
North Florida. While the church itself came from the
fringe, it certainly resonated throughout American
culture due, most likely, to a much larger and more
widespread fear and hatred of Muslims. Hate can also
bring the religious mainstream out into the convoluted
lives of marginal characters who can inflict awful harm
on those singled out as objects of hatred; as is the
case in the recent brutal attacks on gays. The culture
of hate emanating from many in the mainstream religious
right—hatred of “Obamacare,” of government, Muslims,
abortion, or gays—will continue to spur individuals to
action bent on destroying the enemy in the name of… some
higher principle, a sacred law, God?
Politics thrives on hate as well, though politicians
get value-added, religious-tinged benefits from naming
an enemy who is not simply one who disagrees with a
point of view, but is identified as the most vital
threat to public order, the moral good, and national
life. What are the values added? Fear, a tried
and true ingredient for consolidating social power and
sharpening the line between insiders and outsiders; a scapegoat—if
not for the sins of the community, then at least as a
useful distraction from community failures and sins; and
retaliatory possibilities—every crowd worked
into a frenzy over whom to hate wants to be
simultaneously protective and aggressive, while our
gun-crazy, militarized culture points the way (in the
name of God, blow ’em up!).
Hasn’t it always been this way? Pick any decade from
American history and you can find political leaders
encouraging hate—both to protect American values and
interests and to strengthen the civil religious ties
that are supposed to bind us all together. Hate the
English, hate the French, hate the Spanish, hate the
Japanese, hate the Germans, hate the Koreans, hate the
Vietnamese, hate the Russians, hate the Iraqis, and so
on for the so-called “foreign” enemies to fear. On the
domestic side, the list comes too easily: hate Indians,
hate blacks, hate Jews, hate anarchists, hate war
protestors, hate government, hate the North, hate the
South, hate the gays….
Aside from the raw political value of hate, think of
the potential for media exposure when you are a
religious hater. When the Dalai Lama comes to town (to
start with a counter-example) with monks, cultural
activities, and lectures, the fundamental core of his
teaching—compassion—is a media buzzkill. Even with
Richard Gere in tow, his visits are mostly ignored by
journalists, bloggers, and news celebrities, as well as
their audiences. Love for your fellow man and kindness
to your neighbor just isn’t as appealing as calling your
opponent Hitler or burning the sacred text from a
different faith. Why is that? Maybe we should take a
survey.
The media, of course, is not the only culprit in
promoting a culture that values hate; though its
unofficial motto, if it bleeds it leads, does
suggest some degree of culpability. A brief glance
across news shows and sites suggests that hate
stories—not just hate crimes, a relatively new legal
designation, but also stories that focus on conflict and
hostility based on passionate dislike for the other—are
staples in news media. Additionally and beyond the news,
so much of popular culture is fueled by depictions of
hate and difference overcome by cruel violence. Whether
it’s the cowboys killing the savage Indians, the space
hero destroying the ruthless aliens, or the soldier
slicing the enemy’s throat, hate is elemental in the
entertainment industry. Do we even need to bring up
shooter video games like Bioshock,
Resistance: Fall of Man, and Crysis in
a discussion of the value of hate in media?
Though all this talk of hate and what seems like
constant fighting and warfare has left me at a loss for
words, these Clash lyrics seem to capture the essence
quite nicely:
Hate and War, the only things we got today
And if I close my eyes
They will not go away
You have to deal with it
It is the currency
Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
