THE INDIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE
March 11th 2007 07:00
Is hatred the opposite of love?
To my mind, indifference is the opposite of love, in as much as, if you hate someone or something you still have very strong feelings, if you are indifferent you don’t give a toss either way, cie la vie, doesn’t matter, who cares?
What could be further opposed to the feeling of tender affection, kindness, grace, charity and compassion for someone or something than total lack of concern, care or interest?
Can you experience hatred if you haven’t first experienced love? Can there exist a world without hate? Is aversion a learned response or a primal instinct?
If you love something and it becomes somehow spoiled or tainted does it automatically follow that you will come to hate it or rather would you reject it out of hand and feel absolutely nothing at all?
Maybe in a pure and virtuous world, one where all beings operated out of honesty, understanding and truth, hate would be the opposite of love, but in such a culture surely there would be no use for the feeling or word to describe hate?
It is my belief, that today in our modern manufactured society, hate and love run parallel, and can cross and even become intertwined, especially when thinking about the notion of romantic love. How quickly someone held in such high regard, affection and esteem fall from the mantle when they don’t act or speak in accordance to our pre-conceived ideals, ideas and expectations?
Maybe I am just getting mellow in my old(er) age? I really cant think of anything
I could say I truly hate. Sure there are some people and situation and inanimate objects I dislike, a few I dislike a lot, but I certainly wouldn’t say that I think about them enough or am willing to expend the mental exertion required to hate them.
In fact I could say, today, I feel indifferent to hatred………..
To my mind, indifference is the opposite of love, in as much as, if you hate someone or something you still have very strong feelings, if you are indifferent you don’t give a toss either way, cie la vie, doesn’t matter, who cares?
What could be further opposed to the feeling of tender affection, kindness, grace, charity and compassion for someone or something than total lack of concern, care or interest?
Can you experience hatred if you haven’t first experienced love? Can there exist a world without hate? Is aversion a learned response or a primal instinct?
Maybe in a pure and virtuous world, one where all beings operated out of honesty, understanding and truth, hate would be the opposite of love, but in such a culture surely there would be no use for the feeling or word to describe hate?
It is my belief, that today in our modern manufactured society, hate and love run parallel, and can cross and even become intertwined, especially when thinking about the notion of romantic love. How quickly someone held in such high regard, affection and esteem fall from the mantle when they don’t act or speak in accordance to our pre-conceived ideals, ideas and expectations?
Maybe I am just getting mellow in my old(er) age? I really cant think of anything
I could say I truly hate. Sure there are some people and situation and inanimate objects I dislike, a few I dislike a lot, but I certainly wouldn’t say that I think about them enough or am willing to expend the mental exertion required to hate them.
In fact I could say, today, I feel indifferent to hatred………..
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