Disagreement isn’t the same as hate
LETTERS
The word “hate” permeates society today and I’m sick of hearing it! A blogger finds himself in the headlines for the crime of “hate” due to words he used in his writings. If an individual behind a computer can being raked through the fires of hell in our courts for the crime of “hate,” how do those who make the rules explain the sanctioning and training of massive armies of men and women specifically to hate, to kill, to maim, to plunder, to build bombs capable of turning to dust every living thing within hundreds of miles, because the master with the power to control disagrees.
The state controls “hate;” they control whom with and how we may “disagree,” or express distain/disagreement for lifestyles, political movements, their leaders, the people within, etc.
If I submit opinion of a lifestyle, a religion, a political movement, or how corrupt I view a civic official — I don’t “hate”! I simply disagree. If I chastise a farmer for killing a coyote, I don’t hate that farmer, I’m just expressing a belief that coyotes have a right to life.
If I opine about a member of the aforementioned Canadian armed forces participating in the slaughter of innocent civilians somewhere, that doesn’t mean I “hate” armies, or necessarily anyone in the armed forces, I just do not condone killing, and I have a right to state so.
If with vigour I oppose my municipal council wasting public money, I don’t hate my mayor or my council, I’m just expressing disagreement with the way my representatives are spending that money.
As kids we got into skirmishes, calling each other names, fought like blazes, got bloody noses, scrapes and bruises, with no parents and no courts determining outcomes. More often than not today, lawyers, money and courts determine outcomes of these skirmishes, these verbal tussles.
Someone far removed from the engagement — the debate — now determines who can disagree with whom, how, and even if we can engage in the disagreement. We have indeed turned a sad chapter!
Alvin Shier
Lethbridge