The United Hates of America

[JFN1]

It's been bothering me all day.

I watched a couple of movies on broadcast TV today while waiting for the Superbowl to start. I watched "Radio" and "Remember the Titans."

These are both inspirational movies based on true stories, and I was uplifted after watching them...sort of...

The hatred deployed via racism depicted in both of these films is comparable to the hatred being deployed today, though on a much grander scale.

Intolerance and hatred seem to dominate our "enlightened" and "Christian" nation. The times may have changed...but not the hate.

Is this what our country is truly about? If we look past the unbridled enthusiasm and national pride, if we look beneath the flashy image-maintenance propaganda that most entertainment and journalism now represent, do we find anything other than our own hatred?

Is there an end to the hatred that seems to bind us together in an eternal fight to the death? Is it real hatred, or is it something born out of pure boredom and misery? Much of the hate being spewed these days seems so...manufactured...yet vibrant and cunning...

Is the hate all we have as a culture, as a people, as a force of nature? Is our never-ending hatred the fuel which drives our nation? Are we more than the sum of our hatred towards each other? I'm just not seeing what we produce as a people, adding up to anything more.

Because despite good intentions, despite invaluable individual acts of love and generosity, we are bombarded constantly, every hour, every day, with hate, hate, and more hate.

Or, to paraphrase Edgar Allan Poe: "Here I opened wide the door; Hatred there, and nothing more..."

[JFN1]

1. Lots of similar themes out there today

so I'm going to self-kick this one, to add my voice again to the sadly growing chorus.