Hate

[Stu]

The term "hate" seems to have taken on a new meaning in recent times, especially as part of expressions like "hate crimes" and "hate speech", and sometimes these are directed at people who are merely expressing opinions which conflict with the prevailing orthodoxy. Personally, I think that's a often a crude weapon aimed at silencing dissent and it constitutes a threat to free speech.

Something I read by a female psychiatrist recently got me thinking about the concept of hatred. She was in consultation with a young adult female patient who was suffering from bulimia to the extent that it was destroying her health. As part of the routine questions, the psychiatrist asked the patient about her upbringing and relationship and she dropped out that she "hated" her father. In a later consultation, the psychiatrist decided to explore this and she asked the young woman why she hated her father. Was she neglected or abused? No. Her dad was, and always had been, loving, caring and generous - and spent much of his free time playing with his daughter. In fact, he was the model father. So why did she hate him? Well, he had habits that were a bit bizarre and annoyed her. Such as? He liked ketchup on his ice cream. He always wore ties, including when just watching TV at home. He whistled Beethoven tunes through his teeth - and there were others I have forgotten. To my astonishment, the doctor sympathised with her as if she had just disclosed he had brutalised her. Of course she is going to hate him - who wouldn't?

What?

Hatred is a normal human emotion and we shouldn't blame ourselves for experiencing it. However, we should recognise it when it arises , realise it is a n irrational and negative emotion and never allow it to dominate our judgment, let alone dictate our behaviour. We should also not assume everything that we call hatred is any such thing.

[Jim]

The term "hate" seems to have taken on a new meaning in recent times, especially as part of expressions like "hate crimes" and "hate speech", and sometimes these are directed at people who are merely expressing opinions which conflict with the prevailing orthodoxy. Personally, I think that's a often a crude weapon aimed at silencing dissent and it constitutes a threat to free speech.

Considering hate crimes, I'd suggest starting with the legal definitions. Here's what the US Department of Justice writes:

Hate

The term "hate" can be misleading. When used in a hate crime law, the word "hate" does not mean rage, anger, or general dislike. In this context “hate” means bias against people or groups with specific characteristics that are defined by the law.

At the federal level, hate crime laws include crimes committed on the basis of the victim’s perceived or actual race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.

Most state hate crime laws include crimes committed on the basis of race, color, and religion; many also include crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability.

Crime

The "crime" in hate crime is often a violent crime, such as assault, murder, arson, vandalism, or threats to commit such crimes. It may also cover conspiring or asking another person to commit such crimes, even if the crime was never carried out.

https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/lear ... ate-crimes

You can read about "hate speech" on the United Nations website.

What is hate speech?
In common language, “hate speech” refers to offensive discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion or gender) and that may threaten social peace.

To provide a unified framework for the United Nations to address the issue globally, the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech defines hate speech as…“any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor.”

However, to date there is no universal definition of hate speech under international human rights law. The concept is still under discussion, especially in relation to freedom of opinion and expression, non-discrimination and equality.
https://www.un.org/en/hate-speech/under ... ate-speech

I've heard people yell out from a car "Kill all n****rs!" when driving by a sign that says "Black Lives Matter". Is this hate speech or just trying to trigger a reaction?