Hate Is A Loaded Word

Four letters. H-A-T-E. And yet it can mean so little or so much. It really is a loaded word. Many people don't understand the significance of this word. Mainly because it means different things to different people. To me, it means to wish upon someone the worst possible pain, to suffer the worst possible punishment that mankind can think up. In my mind, I find it impossible to feel that way about anyone, let alone imagine how another person could possibly feel that way. But then I see the state of the world around me. Lawrence King, only fourteen when he was gunned down by a classmate, just because he asked him to be his valentine. Matthew Shepard, lured from a bar, beaten into unconsciousness and left to die, tied to a fence. Gwen Araujo, killed by friends when they found out that she was really a he. Brandon Teena, raped and eventually murdered because he was actually Teena Brandon. Seventy one women, all prostitutes, murdered by a man who had this crazy idea that it was O.K. to do it. Twenty two of their bodies were never found. Twenty three families, maybe more, unable to bury their dead daughters because the sick bastard forgot where they were buried. I watch accounts of these stories and dozens, possibly hundreds of others, and get sick to my stomach. How does someone come to hate a person so much that murder becomes the only option? Or do they really hate this person? Is it hate or fear that motivates them to their ultimate decision to kill?

I've done a lot of thinking over the course of my nineteen years of life. Most of my thoughts focused on this in the past two. It had a lot to do with my role as an ally in the GLBT community. Once I made friends that were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, I began to see a side of humanity that I'd been sheltered from for most of my life. People are persecuted not only for race or religion, but for who they love. The biggest oxymoron of them all. Hating love. Isn't that just a peachy way for Americans to live their lives? Hating something so beautiful and natural?

I don't know. I want to go into more depth on this, but it just gets me so riled up, I can't think straight for more than a few moments. I want to write this, but I"m not going to. I'll elaborate when I see fit. But... not right now.

06/03/08
Amanda