# When is it OK to hate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488 "2010-08-17T02:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Facts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@The\_Facts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Facts)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/1 "2010-08-17T02:06:36Z")
Some people say that you shouldn’t hate anyone … but everyone hates nazis and child molesters and the Klan. Am I wrong if I hate evil people? ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/2 "2010-08-17T02:17:34Z")
> [@The\_Facts](#): > > Some people say that you shouldn’t hate anyone … but everyone hates nazis and child molesters and the Klan. > > Am I wrong if I hate evil people? Hate is an emotion. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging and feeling any emotions. However, allowing emotions to develop into actions that infringe upon the rights of others, now that’s where people will say “You can” or “You can’t” with regards to HATE. Many people will say that Hating _anything_ isn’t healthy for you. But I say (for the hill of beans it’s worth) : Just don’t let it dominate your thoughts and you won’t end up being somebody nasty like Darth Vader or Hitler. Onward with the battle of moral opinions! Let the odiferous bung-holes emanate their foul stench! (opinions are like assholes, note the smell around this post) ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/3 "2010-08-17T02:20:00Z")
The trouble is that the definition of ‘evil’ is pretty subjective. ‘Evil’ people don’t THINK they are evil, after all. Personally, I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to hate large groups of people (just like I don’t think it’s a good idea to automatically love large groups of people). I take people individually, and while I might despise, dislike or have some other strong negative reaction to people individually, I generally reserve ‘hate’ for those who truly deserve it. So, I probably wouldn’t ‘hate’ ‘Nazi’ as a whole, or The Klan, I would reserve ‘hate’ for those leaders and more egregious members of said groups. This isn’t to say I like either group…I despise both. But they are pretty large groups, and individually it would be too much effort to ‘hate’ every one of them. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/4 "2010-08-17T02:37:58Z")
> [@The\_Facts](#): > > Some people say that you shouldn’t hate anyone … but everyone hates nazis and child molesters and the Klan. > > Am I wrong if I hate evil people? The question to ask is, is this a wise use of your limited time on this earth? There are 6 billion humans on this planet, many of them who do very disagreeable things. There’s always somebody you could be pissed off at. Even if they deserve your hatred, do you deserve to have your own peace of mind disturbed by holding on to hatred? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Facts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@The\_Facts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Facts)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/5 "2010-08-17T02:43:43Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > > [@The\_Facts](#): > > > > Some people say that you shouldn’t hate anyone … but everyone hates nazis and child molesters and the Klan. > > > > Am I wrong if I hate evil people? > > The question to ask is, is this a wise use of your limited time on this earth? There are 6 billion humans on this planet, many of them who do very disagreeable things. There’s always somebody you could be pissed off at. Even if they deserve your hatred, do you deserve to have your own peace of mind disturbed by holding on to hatred? Because hating evil helps in fighting it. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/6 "2010-08-17T02:46:25Z")
Hate doesn’t really help in fighting, to be honest. Calm reason trumps blind hate, even justified blind hate, every time. JMHO of course. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/7 "2010-08-17T02:51:00Z")
> [@The\_Facts](#): > > Am I wrong if I hate evil people? No, but it may not be healthy for you. Or, what **Blalron** said. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/8 "2010-08-17T02:58:04Z")
> [@The\_Facts](#): > > Am I wrong if I hate evil people? Yes. Of course, most poeple don’t seem to have any diea what hating someone means. Much like saying they “love” something, they use it as a cheap word for everyday anger. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/9 "2010-08-17T03:06:36Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > The trouble is that the definition of ‘evil’ is pretty subjective. ‘Evil’ people don’t THINK they are evil, after all. > [@](#): > > It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil. . . . > > If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? Sozhenitsyn-The Gulag Archepelago ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/10 "2010-08-17T03:36:04Z")
For a theological viewpoint - if such interests you - see Perelandra by C.S. Lewis, one of his sci-fi allegory books. This one is an allegory about the initial Fall - a saintly man from Earth is carried to Venus by heavenly forces to prevent another Fall from happening there. (Er, no, the climate reported for Venus is not, er, accurate.) While there, our saint finds a demon that needs destroyin’ - and is amazed to have finally found a proper place and use for hate. He’s found a source of pure evil, and he finds that he hates it, truly hates it - and he’s for once found something he can hate without accidentally hating the person instead of the evil. He’s found that the hatred gives him a temporary surge of energy that he can use to great benefit - if he uses it well. If you’re interested in such. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/11 "2010-08-17T05:51:04Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Hate doesn’t really help in fighting, to be honest. Calm reason trumps blind hate, even justified blind hate, every time. JMHO of course. > > -XT How about calm rational hate? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/12 "2010-08-17T07:15:43Z")
> [@The\_Facts](#): > > Some people say that you shouldn’t hate anyone … but everyone hates nazis and child molesters and the Klan. > > Am I wrong if I hate evil people? When you see a couple of airliners fly into buildings and then watch a news report several hours later of folks dancing in the streets. Declan ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/13 "2010-08-17T07:23:04Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > > [@xtisme](#): > > > > Hate doesn’t really help in fighting, to be honest. Calm reason trumps blind hate, even justified blind hate, every time. JMHO of course. > > > > -XT > > How about calm rational hate? There’s no such thing as a rational emotion. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/14 "2010-08-17T07:48:17Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I generally reserve ‘hate’ for those who truly deserve it. So, I probably wouldn’t ‘hate’ ‘Nazi’ as a whole. > > -XT What about Illinois Nazi’s? (someone had to say it) I think hate binds you to the object as tightly as love, negative attachment is still attachment, therefore it’s best avoided, not that that’s easy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Facts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@The\_Facts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Facts)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/15 "2010-08-17T11:41:49Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > For a theological viewpoint - if such interests you - see Perelandra by C.S. Lewis, one of his sci-fi allegory books. No thanks. I am not superstitious and don’t believe in God. I don’t care what the invisible unicorn thinks. And I don’t buy the line about “don’t hate groups.” The vast majority of evil done in the world is institutional evil, people acting in groups. If you advance the groups’ agenda, you are part of that group and responsible. I do not accept the idea that “oh he has a good heart, even though he’s KKK/NAMBLA/GOP” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/16 "2010-08-17T11:59:48Z")
There are no evil people, merely people who do evil things. Hate the evil that men do but not the men themselves; we are all capable of good and evil, and even those who commit great evils may do good sometimes. If you try to divide the world into “good people” and “evil people” things will get very muddy very quickly. Even the Kray twins were good to their mother, after all. I’m not saying you must love the sinner (although good for you if you manage it), but it’s better to focus your hate on the sin itself. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/17 "2010-08-17T15:10:21Z")
> [@The\_Facts](#): > > Some people say that you shouldn’t hate anyone … but everyone hates nazis and child molesters and the Klan. > > Am I wrong if I hate evil people? Do you personally know any Nazis, or child molestors, or Klansmen? If not, what is it that you’re hating? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/18 "2010-08-17T15:19:32Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > There are no evil people, merely people who do evil things. Hate the evil that men do but not the men themselves; we are all capable of good and evil, and even those who commit great evils may do good sometimes. If you try to divide the world into “good people” and “evil people” things will get very muddy very quickly. I’m not sure I agree that there are no evil people. There may very well be individuals out there who, if I truly knew them, I would not hesitate to call them evil. However, that’s a big “if.” I am not qualified to judge whether a particular person is “evil.” And I certainly am not qualified to call someone evil based on their membership in some group, nor based on one or more individual acts they may have committed. If a person who has done evil is capable of redemption—which would involve seeing that evil for what it is and truly repenting of it—I would prefer such redemption to their destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/19 "2010-08-17T15:35:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@Gyrate](#): > > > > There are no evil people, merely people who do evil things. Hate the evil that men do but not the men themselves; we are all capable of good and evil, and even those who commit great evils may do good sometimes. If you try to divide the world into “good people” and “evil people” things will get very muddy very quickly. > > I’m not sure I agree that there are no evil people. There may very well be individuals out there who, if I truly knew them, I would not hesitate to call them evil. > > However, that’s a big “if.” I am not qualified to judge whether a particular person is “evil.” And I certainly am not qualified to call someone evil based on their membership in some group, nor based on one or more individual acts they may have committed. > > If a person who has done evil is capable of redemption—which would involve seeing that evil for what it is and truly repenting of it—I would prefer such redemption to their destruction. I suppose the important distinction I’m making is this: many people, and certainly many Hollywood films, act as if people do evil things because they are evil people. I’m saying that they are evil people (sic) because they do evil things. The Nazis were not evil because God put a black hat on them at birth; they were evil for killing lots of people and starting a rather large war. The US is likewise not intrinsically good; its goodness (as is) is dependent on the extent to which it lives up to its higher ideals (liberty, justice, apple pie, blah blah blah). Where it (or its representatives) do bad things (waterboarding, extraordinary rendition, Baconnaise), it’s not so good. Evil is as evil does, as Forrest Gump might say. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488/20 "2010-08-17T15:40:18Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > > [@xtisme](#): > > > > Hate doesn’t really help in fighting, to be honest. Calm reason trumps blind hate, even justified blind hate, every time. JMHO of course. > > > > -XT > > How about calm rational hate? As said, an emotion as charged as hate is the opposite of rational. Many years ago, someone I admire put it this way: “Having hate is like eating a little bit of poison every day, hoping the other guy will die.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-it-ok-to-hate/550488.md?page=2)