Why Do So Many People Let Their Hatred Drive Them?

"Everybody needs a glass of water today to chase the hate away." —Andre 3000

It seems like far too many people allow their hate to color and influence everything they do these days. And I don’t get it.

We see hate show up in political discussions, in sports, in cultural discussions — everywhere.

Being driven by hate seems like a tiring way to go through life. A couple of years ago, I wrote about how hate and rage have filled our political discourse, and I brought up a quote from one of my favorite TV shows:

On The Hour, one of my late, lamented favorite shows of recent years, journalist Freddie Lyon (Ben Whishaw) brings Trevor, a teenage fascist, (Joe Cole) in for a TV interview to expose the racism in parts of London. After the interview, news director Randall Brown (Peter Capaldi) pulls Trevor aside and tells him, “I used to know a boy like you, filled with hate. It just became so damned exhausting.”

[For] years since that episode first aired, that line has stuck with me. It’s how I feel about hate. I’ll never understand how people can waste so much energy and emotion on hatred. Life’s too short, and there’s so much to enjoy that hate is useless.

Of course, I’m also reminded of how Emperor Palpatine tried to encourage Luke Skywalker to use his hate to move him toward the Dark Side of the Force.

Hatred was the catalyst that drove someone into the arms of the evil Dark Side. Sure, it’s fiction, but there’s a parallel to real life. If we allow hate to drive our lives, it will dominate us.

Why do so many people allow their hate to drive so much of what they say and do?

I see certain people and personalities on social media whom I can only define by what they hate and what they rail against. I don’t know what’s good in their lives, and I don’t know what brings them joy. As far as I can tell, nothing good goes on in the lives of these people. And that’s sad.

There’s so much hate on social media that I’ve more than once considered throwing in the towel. I’ve even distanced myself from people because of the hate they exuded. (When I’m reminded of some of the good things I receive from social media — and hopefully the good things I give, I’m more inclined to stick around.)

As a believer in Jesus, I know that there’s a time and place for righteous anger. After all, Jesus drove the money-changers out of the temple.

But we shouldn’t let anger and hate drive us because it leads us to sin.

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27, ESV).

Life’s too short to allow hate to drive your life. Choose love over hate. Be angry at the right time, but opt for joy more often than choosing vitriol.

As Martin Luther King said, “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

That’s some advice we could all stand to heed.

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash