Hate is self-destructive. When we act out of hate, when we seek some object for our scorn, our hatred grows. Usually, we take some kernel of the truth, some fact, and twist it in such a way to convince ourselves that hate is justified. The more we do this, the wider our hatred becomes, and so that more people (and things) end up being hated by us. Such hate is draining. The more we act upon it, the more we will wear ourselves out and find, in the process, the hate which we have embraced is eating us up on the inside. It drains our ability to love anything, including ourselves. “If you give hatred a chance, the love and compassion you have developed will weaken and it will be hard to develop any new love and compassion, even if you practice for a long time.” [1]
Hate never ends with hatred for others. The more fuel we give it, the more it will slowly turn inward and give us things to hate about ourselves (and not in the sense of ascetic self-denial which has us “hate” our false self). We begin to hate our very existence, indeed, existence itself. This is why, unless we put a stop to it, our hatred will become nihilistic, and we will use what time and energy we have to destroy as much as possible. This, as Jacob Neusner pointed out, is what happened at the end of World War II:
Hatred of the other, after all, forms a powerful motive to disregard love of self, and anyone who doubts that fact had better reconsider the history of Germany from July 1944 through May 1945. At that time, when everyone knew the German cause was finished, hatred of the other sufficed to sustain a suicidal war that ended with the absolute ruin of Germany; more people died in the last nine months of World War II than in the first five years. All that kept Germany going on the path to its own complete destruction was hatred: drag them all down with us. [2]
When we do not put a stop to it, when we embrace it, we find our hatred turns us into nihilists, seeking to destroy everything, including existence itself This is why it has us become suicidal, for, in the end, it makes us hope to take out as much as we can, including ourselves, in some final act of hate.
Hatred is never the way. Every time we find ourselves tempted to give into it, no matter the reason, it has think the only answer to our problem is to destroy, destroying not just that which we hate, but also anything connected to it. We can, and of course, should “hate” evil, and God can “hate” evil, if we understand the term hate, not literally, but poetically, as a word representing something which we extremely oppose. This is how we can also “hate hate.” What we must never do is let our opposition to someone or something become so absolute, we ignore the good in that which we oppose. That however, is what hate would have us do. It will have us destroy the good along with the bad. Whatever good which exists, however limited it is, must be preserved and set free. We must protect it, if not help make it grow (which of course, is one reason why the death penalty is wrong, because it teaches us to give into hate and its nihilistic rejection of the good of existence itself).
J.R.R. Tolkien, in his works, reflected upon how those who give in to hate and strike out at someone can do all kinds of unforeseen harm. He showed this many times in his works, however, the best example, the more important, might be with the way Samwise treated Smeagol (Gollum). Sam’s hatred for Gollum led him to strike out at Gollum when Gollum was about to repent and resist the dark influence the Ring has had upon him. Sam’s mistrust and hatred ultimately prevented the good which Frodo was trying to achieve with Gollum, and so had Gollum return to his old, treacherous ways (as Tolkien described in a letter ):
The Fourth Book deals with the perils and labours of Frodo and Sam. Gollum reappears, and is ‘tamed’ by Frodo: That is by the power of the Ring he is cowed to a Caliban-like servitude at first, but slowly Frodo awakens his long-buried better self: he begins to love Frodo as a good and kind master. This regeneration is constantly hindered by the suspicion and dislike of the faithful Sam. It is finally frustrated by an impatient and impulsive rebuke of Sam’s at a critical moment, when Gollum was poised on the break of repentance. Gollum relapsed into hatred and treachery.[3]
Tolkien, of course, allowed the good which remained in Gollum to play a part in the greater story; Gollum was never completely and totally evil. Perhaps it is that good side which continued to try to come out all the time so that, in the end, it had an unconscious influence on Gollum, and was one of the causes which lead to Gollum taking the Ring from Frodo, and, in his apparent triumph, fall into the the fires in which the Ring was forged, destroying the Ring in the process. Certainly, Gollum’s end proved Gandalf’ right in saying we should not seek to destroy anyone, to have their life in our hands, because we never know what good they might accomplish, willingly or not, if they are allowed to live.
Insofar as hatred remains in us, we cut ourselves from love, the love which we need to find true peace. “One’s mind finds no peace, neither pleasure or delight, nor goes to sleep, nor feels secure while the dart of hatred is stuck in the heart.” [4] We cannot have the never-ending peace we seek so long as some element of hate remains in our heart. The more we free ourselves from its grip up on, the more we rid our hearts of its influence, the more peace will experience. This is because, instead of hating it, we will appreciate more and more of the good which is around us, the good which reflects and points to the goodness of God. If we continue, we will eventually find ourselves acting in and with pure love. Then, we will find ourselves in perfect harmony and unity with God, for God is love, and thanks to the bond, we will be participating in the divine life and the insurmountable peace which is found in it.
[1] Tsong-kha-pa, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Volume Two. Trans. Lamrin Chenmo Translation Committee. Ed. Joshua W.C. Cutler and Guy Newland (Ithaca: NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2004), 78.
[2] Jacob Neusner, Jews and Christians: The Myth of a Common Tradition (London: SCM Press, 1991), 109-10.
[3] J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Revised and Expanded Edition. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien (Broadway, NY: William Morrow, 2023), 225 [Letter 131 to Milton Waldman].
[4] Śāntideva, The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra. Trans. Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995; repr. 1998), 50 [6.3].
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