Addicted to Hate

photo credit: Aaron Springston
Loveland Pass, Colorado

I heard a program on National Public Radio today in which people who had been involved with hate groups, and were presently in recovery, were interviewed. There were white nationalists, neo-nazis, Islamic terrorists. Some wanted out because they realized they were wrong, others had wives who gave them ultimatums when they saw their children behaving in this way, whatever the reason, they all had something in common: they couldn’t leave without support from groups. It was very similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. These people said they were addicted to the feelings, the strong emotions, which were aroused when they screamed messages of derision toward others. Listening to these dear people talk about their experiences — how and why they were drawn to such a destructive group of people, the way it made them feel, why they had to get away from them — I was struck by how much we truly are all the same. Sometimes we lose our way and think that pain is pleasure, hate is love, and ugliness is beauty. I’m going to double down on my efforts to scatter joy and love my neighbor. It is, indeed, important!

"...fear demands the sacrifice of love, for in love's presence fear cannot abide. For hate to be maintained, love must be feared; and only sometimes present, sometimes gone. Thus is love seen as treacherous, because it seems to come and go uncertainly, and offer no stability to you. You do not see how limited and weak is your allegiance, and how frequently you have demanded that love go away, and leave you quietly alone in 'peace.'" A Course in Miracles T-29.2.7.