eHatemail
October 8, 2010By Paul Campbell
Vitriolic hate-mongering has reached fever-pitch in America. Some of it is spread in the guise that "it's just a joke," but the sentiments of these "jokes" are only thinly masked rants of hatred. The remainder aren't even masked. And the hate is now coming to us as forwards of emails long-removed from the original author of hatred. These sentiments of hatred spread like, and quite literally are, a virus! As such they should be treated like a virus: Have a bowl of soup, keep warm, and avoid them like the plague they are! Don't pass them around, not even on the pretense that "misery loves company."
I received just such a forwarded email a couple of days ago. The original author was apparently upset about the permeability of the US border and the subsequent humane treatment of illegal immigrants in America. This author went on to imply, quite clearly, that the US should be emulating the policies and procedures of North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Venezuela, and Cuba in order to deal with our border problems.
I responded to the person that forwarded me this hate-inspiring email, and pointed out that it was just possible that the original author may not have a completely firm grip on what they were suggesting, and it might not be such a good idea to model our domestic policies on a group of nations that the US has historically had some differences with over human rights. That did the trick! I not only didn't get a response, I haven't heard from them since.
Sadly the stream of venom almost always comes from our friends, passed along without considering what it is that they are really promoting. In the age of ephemeralization we all struggle to do more with less in less time, and there doesn't seem to be time to think about issues before we pass them along. We have become naive again, like little children passing their stories of Santa Claus around and each successive person believing what they were told because a friend said it, so it must be true, without ever a thought about whether it seems rational or not.
The jokes are perhaps the worst, and most dangerous, mutation of the virus of hatred. Yesterday I received one such forwarded "joke," again several generations removed from the original xenomalevolent Islamophobe author, who, apparently embarrassed by his affliction, was attempting to spread his disease under the veil of humor. Fatigued and harrowed as everyone else is I may not have responded as diplomatically and eloquently as the situation called for. Still, I am yet to have received a defense of the hate-mongering contained in the original email. So, while I may have offended and possibly even alienated a friend, perhaps, just perhaps, they will stop and consider the effects of the hate-mongering emails they forward.
One need not be adversarial in dealing with the forwarded hate-mail. In fact being adversarial is perhaps the last thing one should do. That will only instill a stronger hatred in the individual forwarding the material. A more reasoned approach, pointing out the pitfalls of the subject of the forward may get you called a hippy, but is just as likely to make the sender think.
So, what is the big deal about hateful emails and forwards you may ask? Why not just ignore them and delete them? That's fine on a personal level, but it allows the sender to breed the virus of hate, wittingly or unwittingly, and you end up every two years subjected to thousands of hours of denigrating negative campaign commercials all the while wondering why we hear so much bad about candidates and not too much positive about them. Hate breeds still more hate, along with negativity, anger, social unrest, polarization, sectarianism, and an outright downward spiral into nationwide cultural paranoia.
This does not suggest that everything needs to be "politically correct." Far from it. I've written plenty of published humor that is clearly offensive, but largely it is offensive to stupid people, and I don't see stupidity becoming a Protected Class anytime soon. Every lucid person understands the difference between offensive and hateful, even when they try and hide behind a veil of humor or semantics. They are different things, which is why they are different words! Indeed I don't find hateful things to be offensive personally. I find them to be hateful, and stupid.
When you are asked in an email to "pass this on," consider carefully whether it promotes something of value, or whether it just promote hate and fear. I have from time to time asked friends to pass along my well wishes to someone else, or a notice of something new I have published, and likewise I have been asked by friends to pass along a notice of some event in their lives, which I have always happily done. But when I am asked by an author multiple generations before to pass along their message of bigotry, divisiveness, or xenomalevolence I try and make the time to explain to them why I can't. Those small investments in time, and reasoned thinking and conversation are the only weapons we have to combat the ever-spreading viral sickness which is current-day hate-mongering and fear-mongering. The fight against hate is one of the most important legacies we will leave to our children and to the culture of generations to follow.
What's next?
