Now I held this view unquestioned until just a few moments ago, when I was thinking about what to rant about this week. Originally I was going to do a story on Hate Free Zones and what pure bullshit packs the skulls of people who think that merely plastering that on a bumper-sticker is going to get anything accomplished. Or that there can be any single area on this earth that could hate free. Hate is a strong human emotion, and outside of fantasy worlds like Star Trek, you're not going to find a hate free person. Nor would you want to... Hate is a valuable tool. It's a great fire that can spur you on to do what needs to be done, just like fear, guilt, pride and love.

Sure, most of the time hate triggers the most base of reactions - name calling, punching, bullets, bombs and genocide. And no, I'm not going to be promoting any of that.

I am going to be 100% for getting you to recognize when you hate something, and doing something constructive about it. You don't like the way a politician safeguarded his own name by hampering a police investigation? Start an impeachment campaign. Hate that smokers can kill you off one puff at a time? Get a law banning them from sitting near you in public. Hate that you got pulled over for another speeding ticket? Let it fuel keep your lead-foot lifted (2).

The worst thing about hate is that it causes us to jump to our most instinctual reaction the fastest. Your Ghandis and other great passivists throughout the ages aren't impressive because they were hate free but because they didn't do the first thing that leapt into their minds when they started to hate. That they were able to control themselves when everyone else would have become berserkers, that is greatness. To teach others to turn the other cheek, to peacefully counter, or to gently restrain those they hate is even more impressive.

When some jackass teaches the opposite, it becomes a crime against humanity. To teach someone that it is best to shoot first, to maim and kill those that antagonize you, and that bloodlust is only satisfied by blood... those teachers are just sick in the head.

I'm against extra penalties for hate crimes. That you killed someone is one thing, they are dead. You should have to pay for that crime, period. If you were to murder me, I wouldn't care that you were killing me because I was an Agnostic, or because you thought robbing from a dead man were easier. I would hope that your sentence was the same... one for murder. Now if you strung up my body at the local agnostic temple (3) to terrorize the others of my faith, I think you should have some additional sentence thrown at you, just as a robber should be charge with robbing me.

And this all brings me back to my title... which is whether we should blame their parents, or whoever taught them that they should kill. Should those puppet masters pay a penalty for warping the minds of their minions?

That's a tough one for me.

I can certainly see that if a pair of parents kept their child locked in the basement for eighteen years and taught them only hate and other murderous traits... well, yes, when they let that child free upon the world those parents would be guilty of designing a murderous beast. But... only in that they were censoring their child from the opinions of the rest of the world... and that's a very hard crime to punish.

I'm a realist. I know the crime of censorship (4) happens all over the world, every second of every day. Communities all over knock any idea that doesn't conform to their teaching... leaving their members stuck with having to chose to go against their community, or ignore the rest of the world.

In the end I say it's not that hate should be outlawed, rather it's our responsibility that every individual on this planet must be given access to every idea ever presented. So go, my little info-ninjas, go sneak into the classrooms of hate, and leave behind the teachings of Ghandi, the writings of Harper Lee, the diplomacy of Kofi Annan, the songs of John Lennon, and the scriptures of curiosity.

It's not that we've failed to write enough laws to abolish hate, it's that we've not taught those who hate to think.

i,jasona

1) Well, no, not really... it's Sun Ra's box, and if he really wanted he could yank the article, but I could very well just go and post it on my own box and blast it out to the internet.
2) ... or let it work you into a frenzy when buying your next car and spend the little more to buy cruise control... it's saved my ass.
3) Ok, that's a stretch.
4) Yes, I mean censorship... if some community or set of individuals has enough power to block or influence all incoming messages to someone, then they are as a government to that individual, and they are censoring.