Is Hate the Problem?

This election has been a painful awakening for me. The hardest has been learning that people I know and love voted for a candidate that I see as the embodiment of hate. But these are not people filled with hate. They are not “the deplorables” Hillary was talking about. So…who are they? What are they?

I believe there is a swath of people in this country who do genuinely hate people who are different from them, but I don’t feel confident they represent the majority of the people standing in support of our president elect. So, is the problem hate? or something else? is it oblivion or ambivalence to the plight of people different than them? Is it something else? Or am I just looking to excuse the people I love?

I 100% agree that, “The worst thing that could happen is for the aggregate level of hate to increase.” But how do we do that? Because right now, I don’t think the biggest problem is people filled with hate…they remain the minority (for now, at least). I think the biggest problem is fear. How do we help people recognize, see, and overcome their own fear? Because fear that is fed and nurtured turns into hate.

And so I am left trying to figure out how to love and honor people that have, in their fear, cast a vote for hate.

I too am hopeful, even in these rather strange times.

(and great presentation, btw :)