The Destructive Power Of Hate

Too many politicians are answering legitimate economic and security issues with poisonous and divisive manipulation of identity politics in an attempt to win votes.

Divisive fear-mongering has become a dangerous weapon in our political affairs. Whether it is Akufo Addo or Mahama, more and more politicians calling themselves anti-establishment are holding to use of poisonous underlying intentions and motives that hounds, scapegoats and dehumanizes entire groups of people. And one such person who is fast becoming a nuisance is Isaac Adongo.

The present-day politics of demonization in a brazen manner promotes dangerous opinion or belief that, some people are less human than others, that's stripping away the humanity of entire groups of people.

Instead of fighting for people’s rights, too many leaders have adopted a dehumanizing agenda for political expediency. The worrying nature about the destructive power of hate is that many politicians are violating the rights of scapegoated groups to score political points or to distract from their own failures or ensure the economic and social rights of citizens.

In 2016, these toxic forms of dehumanization became a dominant feature in our mainstream politics. The limits of what is acceptable have shifted. Politicians are shamelessly and actively legitimizing all sorts of hateful rhetoric and policies based on people’s identity: misogyny and bigotry.

Poison isn’t always something you eat or drink – it can be an emotion. And hate is one of them, eating you up inside and causing destruction. Do you have hate in your life?

Hate or aversion or dislike to a great degree powerfully affects the mind, senses or emotions. This mental venom could defile your spirit, prove harmful or destructive to your soul and seep into all of the relationships that surround you. Anyone who has found themselves wrapped up in the arms of hate knows how damaging and mind-consuming it can become.

Today, I want you to ask yourself these questions: Does hate have a place in my life? Do I harbor any feelings of hatred toward myself or anyone else? If you do, I implore you to address this negative feeling before it becomes something much more dangerous. Hate, when left unchecked, will drain your spirit, blight your soul and darken the span of your life.

Let me be clear, there are two kinds of hate: the kind that is turned outward (explosion), and the kind that is turned inward (implosion). Both of these will eat you up inside, so if you find yourself living with hate, perhaps today is a good day for a little wellness housecleaning.

Hate turned outward is both dangerous and ugly. It can motivate violent crime and damaging behaviors. The recent outbursts from from the NDC Presidential candidate about "Akyems" is obnoxious, scary and a painful reminder of this. Adongo's penchant to subject the President to indecent name calling is borne out of hatred. The route cause stems from the "banking clean up".

The hatred toward Akufo Addo and their perceived rejection of him have fueled their desperation, the insanity has led to a dastardly phobia that makes several people revulsive about the statement.

At the heart of all hatred is blame, and this is particularly true for hatred turned outward. When one feels like they have been seriously wronged or victimized by someone, their discontent and anger carries with it the potential seeds of hatred.

This quote from Siddhartha Buddha says it all: "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned".

I like this quote for the reason that, the antidote for hatred is definitely within your grasp. The hand that slaps also has the potential to become the hand that comforts. It all depends how you choose to use that hand.

This point is also made in this anecdote, Native American in origin: A grandfather talking to his young grandson tells the boy he has two wolves inside of him, struggling with each other. The first is the wolf of peace, love and kindness. The other is the wolf of fear, greed and hatred. "Which wolf will win, grandfather?" asks the young boy.

Grandpa responded, "whichever one you feed" is the reply. I couldn’t agree more with these two sentiments. The more you hold onto hatred, the more likely it is that the hot coal of the emotion will burn you. And the more you feed it, the stronger it becomes.

Have you ever been the object of "Hate"? If you have ever been the target of hatred, you know how upsetting, frightening and emotional it can be. Actually, since the overall effects of hatred are so physically harmful and emotionally devastating, perhaps we should think of hatred as another type of “H-Bomb.”

As you may recall, real H-bombs (hydrogen bombs) generate most of the energy they produce from something called nuclear fission. In addition to producing energy, nuclear fission is also what ignites the initial explosion of a nuclear weapon.

In a similar way, hatred produces energy for destructive power. And the fission – what actually ignites the explosion. In the same vein, this is driven by the intense hostility, fear, anger or sense of injury one feels.

When confronted by this kind of extreme dislike, you basically have two choices regarding your response: You can either sink to the hater’s level and toss a few H-Bombs of your own, or you can recognize this behavior as a character flaw and not respond in kind.

Hate, whether turned inward or out, creates a destructive state of mind that wreaks havoc with your physical health and emotional well-being.

And like a hot coal, the sooner politicians rid themselves of this toxic emotion, the less damage it can do and the healthier and happier they will be.

The Good Book says, "The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin".

Feed hatred and it will grow. Confront it, understand it, and disassemble it and you will grow.

Have a wonderful day!!!