Rhetoric and the Morality of Hatred

Rhetoric and the Morality of Hatred

Greg over at Counter-Currents recently republished my talk on hatred at the Northwest Forum in June, 2017. Incidentally, this was the month that an infiltrating “journalist” hit-man from Hope Not Hate was in attendance, which continues to amuse me a full year later. I doubt my talk resulted in any ideological rethinking on his part, but I do hope that it helped reveal the philosophical idiocy and dishonesty of most of these anti-hate movements: “hope not hate,” “love trumps hate,” etc.

There are few things more hated today than hatred itself.

I read an article about two weeks ago from Psychology Today that a family member shared with me. The article was about oxytocin, the hormone we associate with lov eand affection. It facilitates social bonding, especially between babies and mothers, and between partners during sex. It wards off depression. Sounds good, right? Well it turns out there’s also a dark side to oxytocin. Here’s a short excerpt:

“The same hormone that helps people feel warmth and camaraderie with friends and family is also implicated in the hatred and contempt they may feel for opponents. In recent years, researchers exploring the intricacies of oxytocin have revealed that it rouses envy, as well as gloating over others’ misfortune. Psychologists conjecture that oxytocin plays a part in fueling ethnocentrism, xenophobia, and intergroup conflict.”

What I thought was truly impressive was the conclusion that they came to. They did not consider whether hatred may have some benefit, or question why love and hate appear to be related at a neurochemical level. Instead, they decided to attenuate their appreciation for the love hormone. Since most scientists these days are materialists, this attenuated appreciation for oxytocin extends into a moral suspicion towards love itself. “Maybe love isn’t so good after all.”

This line of thinking may seem shocking, but it really is symptomatic of our culture’s collective opinion of love and hatred. And once you notice it, you begin to see it everywhere. Many in our society would rather not love at all then love something if that love carried any potential for hatred.

Listen to the full thing here:

And of course, the book is available on Amazon.

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