How Many of You Hate Hatred ?

On “Dismantling Hate”

By Lucas J. Mather, TRP

A recent happening.

The professor held up a flyer of someone climbing up to take down a Confederate flag. The title of the event was, “Dismantling Hate.” The professor looked out to the crowd of students and asked a question :

How many of you love hatred? Raise your hands.

[No hands were raised].

How many of you hate hatred. Sit there and look bored if so, the professor continued.

[The looks on their faces. They eventually smile and wave and wink, etc. Most stop for a second, confused].

Think about this title: “Dismantling Hate.” [The prof continued]. As if hate was the enemy. But what about that? Should we hate hatred? Do you hate hatred? What is hatred?

[Total silence, which is not normal. They are really stumped. Which is odd. It’s such a simple question].

Okay, I’ll define it for you, the prof said. Hatred is a settled disposition to dislike something intensely. I’ll say it again: hatred is a settled disposition to dislike something intensely. It’s dislike, intensified and stabilized. Codified, if you will.

[No one likes this topic. They all dislike it. Intensely].

So, isn’t that how you’re supposed to feel about hatred itself? And how’s that work? Your number one priority is to dismantle “hate”, because you hate it so much. Look at her, going after the Confederate flag. She obviously hates it. Which makes this whole flyer…ironic. And stupid, really.

[Nothing. No action. The students are dumbfounded. None of them have thought about this. Some of them look slightly embarrassed].

Do you hate this conversation we’re having?

It’s awkward, a student sheepishly said.

Do you hate awkwardness?

Yes.

That hate hasn’t been dismantled yet, I see, the prof said, smiling.

[The students smiled]. I guess not.

This flyer fundamentally misunderstands the Confederate civilization, in my opinion. What a characature of the South.

[The students were all listening intensely].

Look, the prof continued. Who loves kids? Anyone? Is that a weird question? I love kids. Who’s with me?

[Several students raise their hands.]

Yeah, but I don’t think they should be able to vote. Do you?

[Crinkled brows.]

I love dogs. I LOVE DOGS. Who’s with me?

[Several hands go up–actually, all hands go up. They know the prof is a dog guy].

I don’t think that dogs should be able to vote.

[Several students are trying hard to keep up].

Notice, I didn’t mention hate at all. The opposite, in fact. I love kids. I love dogs. But , I don’t think that they should be allowed to vote. I’m entertained by both. I think both are important beings. They both have their place in the world. And that is a judgment I have made based on my experience of both kids and dogs. I am rational in that judgment. It’s made without the slightest bit of hatred in my mind.

Are you with me, the prof aksed.

{Yes, they said].

You are closer to understanding the Confederate mindset than you ever have been. Just include blacks. Higher up than dogs and kids. But too low to vote. And many have hatred toward blacks. Sure. But they’re part of life. And some are entertaining. And they are important for various reasons in the economy. Hatred: that takes a lot of energy. A lot of energy. You can survive on it. It was a mindset. A judgment. An intellectual judgment. You could argue with it, if you were so inclined, just like you could argue about kids and dogs. I may not listen to you about dogs and kids. It has nothing essentially to do with hatred. It does have to do with justice.

[The students were starting to see the the light.]

I’m more interested in justice than hatred. How about a flyer that says, dismantling injustice?

[The students are starting to get it].

Because, I have a confession: I hate injustice. I hate it. I have hatred. I don’t want *that* dismantled. Let’s stop confusing the kids, here. You guys are already confused. At your state of intellectual molestation, whether you can legally vote or not, you shouldn’t be. You don’t know anything. For God’s sake.

[The students smile. ONe or two take slight offense. Those happen to be the ones who’ve proven they know the least].

I don’t mean to offend anyone. Hey. You gotta start paying attention. What are so many people over here so worried about the Confederate monuments for, over there? What is the object of your hate?

The prof continued: How many of you know that every single one of those Confederate monuments were erected by Democrats. Every single one of them. And they were tolerated by Republicans. But they were erected by Democrats. All of them. The object of your hatred is not hatred. As if that makes any sense. The object of your hatred is the Democratic Party.

[Stunned silence].

But that is too awkward to say directly. So, we talk around that by ignoring history, and talking instead of “Dismantling Hatred.” Friends, hatred will never be dismantled. And if you hate injustice…if you hate evil, it shouldn’t be.

So, the professor continued, instead of talking about “hatred,” lets talk about evil. Let’s talk good and evil. This is after all an ethics class. So, let’s cut right through the bullshit and start getting enlightened. There is an awful lot of darkness in education and we’re going to start to put a stop to that.

[Some of the best series of questions and answers I have ever seen began that day. And students put away political correctness and began learning for a change. And you know what? They liked it.]

Copyright Lucas J. Mather, 2017
All Rights Reserved
Originally published to Facebook on Friday 20 October 2017 at 11:31 pm

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Warmly, 

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. 

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