Feeling love and hatred are natural human emotions. Through such emotions, institutions, such as nations and families, are created. Humans are social creatures with wants and assigned aims to comply them. Institution is a way of thought or action of some prevalence and permanence, which is embedded in the habits of a group or the customs of the people, such as the custom of "loving thy neighbor" that is taught in the institution of the church. Hence, it can be claimed that institution is that which people adopt to means for fulfillment of needs and objectives with procedures and behavior. In simple words, institution is another word for procedure, convention and arrangements. Institutions are purposive in the sense that each has its objectives or goals to satisfy social needs.
But when such institutions, like the church, are disrupted by those with differing personal opinions and perceptions, often contrary to what is being taught, said customs begin to be perceived as ideologies of weakness, and even evil itself. By now, most of society is aware of the concept of helping others during their time of need. When the news discusses mass shootings, natural disasters, and tragedy, communities will often come together to help those in need. As a society we know that helping others is a good thing.
Yet, what about those moments when hatred fills our hearts? Many of us may feel a heightened sense of being threatened. Other times, it is simply because we are taught bigoted perceptions of others during our formative years and as adults are acting accordingly. For instance, many children throughout the United States, during the 1990's, grew up watching a popular show for kids named Barney. Barney (the purple dinosaur) was a kid's show that often taught educational lessons but also taught about acceptance, love and tolerance. It gave a platform to children who were of different cultural backgrounds. Even children with disabilities were given an opportunity to tell their stories. However, as the show increased in success, many well-known adults (Boomers) who have led heavily publicized anti-Barney campaigns during that time have confessed about being livid that a children's show that taught about saving the environment and accepting those who were different than you, while singing nursery rhymes, could be so enticing enough to children that they would ignore their own parents when they came home. Because of its rising popularity, it was bringing about with it social and cultural change that needed resistance by the teen generation (Gen X) at the time. Even Millennials who grew up watching the show were taught to eventually hate it.
Despite the fact that the internet was still burgeoning at the time, it was still accessible to the public. Because of this, the cast, crew and creator of the show were subjected to emails filled with death threats. Websites were created to express hatred and conspiracy theories about the show and its crew. The children who returned to school after their times filming for the show admitted to experiencing non-stop bullying from their peers. To cope, some of them eventually turned to drugs, alcohol, and lifestyles contrary to what they sang and taught as kids on the show. As adults, many of them admit that they were heavily impacted by the hatred they received. However, they have also admitted that in spite of such adversities as youth, today, as adults, they still strongly believe in the concepts they taught to their peers which are those of love and kindness.
As adults, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to loving and respecting others. If we are filled with hatred because we cannot forgive, then we are not loving ourselves because forgiveness is an act of love. When we do not love others because they are different than we are, then we are not loving ourselves. For showing compassion is an act of love. Most importantly, practicing patience is an act of love. In our fast-paced society, it seems changes are constant. Despite these changes, we depend on the stability of the love we receive from our family and friends who can help teach us about having that patience. To be patient with ourselves, we must remind ourselves that we are not perfect. But if we can love others by giving, listening and being patient, then we are as close to perfection as we can be.
When we can fully accept that life will always be full of challenges, we can begin to learn how to develop another facet of our character. Knowing how to maintain the feeling of love despite feeling pain and anguish, even hatred, is never an easy task, but one that should always be commended and respected when one can succeed in doing so. Showing compassion and understanding in difficult times can help remind you and others that love still exists despite how hopeless the world may seem. To the point, it just is not necessary to hate others to deal with pain and anger. Instead, find tasks, like volunteering, that could help remind you of what it means to display love and compassion.
Diminishing the power of love through hate really should not be a concept for anyone to know or understand, because if any individual truly believes in the concept of love and their heart is truly full of that love, then there is no room for bigotry, prejudice and hatred in their heart. If there is anything that we can do for the sake of human civilization, we should always do our best to fight our own prejudices. As cheesy of a concept that it may seem, it is just simply factual that hatred, as an evil, should never, and will never, triumph over the power of love and the goodness that it brings.
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