Hatred is learned. How do we stop teaching it?

Published June 22, 2015

Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, June 21, 2015.

There is nothing remarkable about Dylann Storm Roof's face, save that it is deceptively young-appearing, making him look more like 15 than 21.

When you look into the eyes of the man charged with mass murder, you see no clues of evil.

 How else, though, can we describe what he is charged with doing? The police say he murdered nine people in the sanctuary of a Charleston church. Witnesses say he did it after sitting quietly for an hour during an evening prayer service, then pulling out a .45-caliber pistol and executing churchgoers whose ages ranged from 26 to 87, shouting racial epithets as he pulled the trigger.

That was evil. As pure as evil gets.

Some of Roof's acquaintances described him as a white supremacist who believed the races should be separated. They say he talked about wanting to "start a civil war." Instead, he united people in prayer and mourning, black and white together, sharing the pain and horror.

President Obama - whose own election unleashed torrents of racial hatred - said Thursday that "At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries." He added: "It is in our power to do something about it. I say that recognizing the politics in this town foreclose a lot of the avenues right now."

It does happen in other advanced countries, of course, but not as often. The president was speaking about gun control, but with more guns in America than people, guns will always be available.

The more important question is this: How do we raise children who don't learn how to hate others because of their skin color or religion? Fear of differences may be normal, but hatred has to be taught. How do we stop teaching it?

It's sobering, too, to know that it could as well happen here as in Charleston. When he heard about the shootings late Wednesday, the Rev. Cureton Johnson, pastor of First Baptist Church on Moore Street in Fayetteville, said, "The first thing that ran through my mind was, 'That could have been any of us.' It really hit me. That could have happened in Fayetteville as easily as Charleston."

Johnson's church and others have added security cameras and even guards in recent years. As churches in Fayetteville plan memorial services, the police plan extra patrols around them. It's a jarring reminder of how much racial anger still lingers among us.

So there will be renewed calls for gun control and for a national conversation about race. But what we really need to talk about is how to stop teaching our children to hate.

http://www.fayobserver.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-hatred-is-learned-how-do-we-stop-teaching/article_8cf0326a-59c8-5645-9f2a-6aa7a415650e.html

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June 22, 2015 at 9:49 am
Norm Kelly says:

'whose own election unleashed torrents of racial hatred'. Really? From whom, exactly? Is this another claim that those of us who disagree strongly with his socialist agenda actually 'hate' him because he's a mostly black man? This totally unqualified socialist America-hater was elected twice. This does not happen when white people actually hate him because of his skin color.

Did some who have been racists most of their lives say derogatory things against him because of his skin color? Yes, but that's not new. And it's a minority almost as small as the radical gay activists. Except the radical gay activists are much more vocal!

There have been haters for all of history, since man has been around. Some people teach hate. Take people like the ever senile Harry Reid for instance. Refers to those of us who value the US Constitution as anarchists. Like Politico who publishes a picture of a gun pointed at the head of Ted Cruz. Yet when Sarah Palin used a picture of the nation with targets on it (representing where Demoncrats needed to be replaced in elected office by Republicans), socialists, libs, demons, media-type allies all got together to claim that a simple target was the reason Gabby was shot. No comparison between the hatred spewed by socialists, libs, demoncrats and the supposed hatred attributed to conservatives, Republicans, and Constitutionalists. One group actually spews hatred, the other is only accused of it. The socialist occupier refers to white cops as 'stupid', claims whites are out to kill blacks and this is NOT considered hatred?!

Of course, most of what spews from the mouth of the occupier has no bearing on reality. These types of events actually DO occur in other developed nations. And in some developed nations, this type of tragedy is perpetrated BY THE GOVERNMENT! When citizens are not allowed to arm themselves, protect themselves, they are prey for two groups. First group is criminals. Those who already ignore the law and will find a way to acquire a weapon/firearm. When law-abiding citizens are prevented from defending themselves, we become targets for criminals. The second group that we become targets for is the government. When citizens can not defend ourselves from government aggression, we become targets for them also. There are two things that government destroys before becoming totalitarian. First they take away religion. Other than religion of government. Kinda like the socialists, progressives, radical gay activists, demoncrats are doing in this country. The second thing totalitarians do is remove defense from citizens. Totalitarians refuse to allow citizens to defend themselves from either criminals or the government. Governments HATE competition and allowing citizens to defend themselves against government thugs/socialists/demoncrats is strictly forbidden when enforcing government as the religion!

Before owning a firearm is made illegal, again voiding the US Constitution as demons are wont to do, I WILL own a firearm and the ammunition that goes with it. I WILL defend myself & my family against criminals. And I WILL defend myself & my family from totalitarian government agents. Like those government agents, like our own K, who insist that only government can provide for citizens. You know, what she claimed while lying to us about the benefits of socialized medicine!

Before I accept either defenseless citizens or claims of conservatives HATING and teaching hate, I will question EVERYTHING coming from socialist, libs, democRATS, and central planners. Freedom is a wonderful thing. Unless, of course, you are a socialist. Then freedom becomes an enemy! Something to be stomped out.

June 22, 2015 at 2:55 pm
Richard L Bunce says:

Recruiting it more likely than teaching it. White supremacy, ISIS, Gangs, all have increasingly sophisticated/effective/brutal recruitment methods and employ violence without mercy. The internet has provided a direct path to individuals regardless of their location.