I love you but I don’t like what you’re doing! One of the preferred strategies of the avant-guard element in Canadian society is to label as "hatred" any viewpoint critical of the thinking or behaviour of those who consider themselves to be the culturally enlightened among us.
I’ve been reminded of this tendency while observing the volume of invective unleashed by MP Svend Robinson’s efforts to have the House of Commons approve Bill C-250 which would essentially amend Canada’s criminal code to protect homosexuals from any form of hate propaganda.
Let me be clear. I agree with Robinson that religious wackos like American preacher Fred Phelps of www.godhatesfags.com fame could benefit from a good muzzling. The rhetoric of Phelps and his crowd is an abomination given that the genius and fundamental distinctive of the Christian gospel is the offering of unconditional love to deliberate sinners. If the Christian church can’t effectively police its own, perhaps it’s time to let the civil authorities have a crack at it.
On the other hand, I’d like to ask a question. By whose decree has outspoken disagreement or criticism regarding another’s actions or thoughts now become equivalent to hatred?
Anyone naïve enough to affirm such thinking needs to have a chat with a mature married couple and discover what they’ve learned: intense disagreement over another’s way of acting or thinking is not necessarily incompatible with genuine love, deep appreciation or intentional respect for the one so acting or thinking!
As well, most intelligent adults, upon hearing siblings scream "I hate you" at each other, are capable of discerning that in the majority of cases, such vehement declarations mean nothing more than, "I strongly object to the way you are presently behaving or treating me."
In the heat of disagreement, young children are often incapable of distinguishing their feelings of ill will toward another’s present behaviour from their usual feelings of good will for that same individual. And so they generalize, using the term "hate" to describe what is not really ?hate? at all.
While both sides of the debate over Bill C-250 have been guilty of occasionally acting like children in this regard, ultimately adults should know better than to perpetuate such absurd generalizations.
Most parents have learned that one child’s emphatic rejection of another’s behaviour is not tantamount to an authentic hatred of the perpetrator, even though the rhetoric involved in the dissension may at times seem to indicate otherwise. In dealing with disputes among siblings, we needlessly exacerbate an inflammatory situation when we fail to adequately discern what is actually being said.
Exercise discernment
As members of a society purporting to be intelligent, Canadians do well to exercise careful discernment before drawing dogmatic conclusions regarding the motives of those who speak their minds on controversial issues. This holds true for both sides of the debate over Bill C-250. Putting words in the mouths of others or drawing irreversible conclusions about why they are saying what they are saying does not enhance informed dialogue.
Among other things, defenders of gay rights who categorically accuse those critical of homosexuality need to evaluate their logical skills. Would they really have me believe if I have strong feelings against someone’s behaviour, I am therefore necessarily guilty of hating that person? Come on, even children know better than that!
Passing judgment on the fundamental motivation of those opposed to the entrenchment of gay rights in Canadian legislation because they believe homosexuality is sin inherently undermines the credibility of those accusing others of passing judgment. What will we hear next, that our democratic process and judicial system is guilty of indiscriminate hatred whenever it passes judgment on a criminal’s behaviour?
Articulating negative feelings regarding another’s conduct is not automatically equivalent to hatred of that person, as some supporters of Robinson’s Bill C-250 insist. You don’t need to take a university course in logic to figure this out. You can learn it from your children, tuition free.
