Hate Me If You Want To
Buon giorno. I've been thinking about love and hate. No, not the big deal stuff that will answer the questions that philosophers have asked for thousands of years. Rather, why am I loved or hated when I write things? I think it's because people have a shallow response to the viewpoints of others. They'll love me if I write things that they agree with, and hate me if I go the opposite way to their viewpoints. People are emotionally vested in their viewpoints, and I have been known to discuss some hot-button topics.
Listen, if you want to hate me, fine, I can give you plenty of other reasons: I have more girlfriends than you, make more money than you, listen to music you don't like, have the respect and fear of criminals and government agents, I think ethnic jokes are funny, and more.
If you want to hate me, I can't stop you. But my suggestion is to drop the emotional involvement over something that should be discussed intellectually. Disagree all you want. I can respect honest disagreement, especially if there is support for your viewpoint. Or, you can simply say, "I disagree and don't want to discuss it further". Fine. No hate, or love, in that, but at least it's a mature approach.
As Toby Keith sings, "Hate me if you want to, love me if you can". It's a challenge to love me. Are you up to the challenge? The truth is, I don't care if people hate me for what I say. There's nothing I can do about it except hope that they grow up enough to be able to carry on a rational discussion.
- When I write about the flaws of evolution, I get hate "mail". I think it's because I'm challenging the Darwinian orthodoxy, and they don't want to admit that their anti-God approaches may be wrong.
- My unapologetic, admittedly emotional, politically Conservative views are sometimes inflammatory, but they, too, challenge entrenched Liberalism.
- I have discussed the historical accuracy of the Gospels regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- When I wrote about the silliness of conspiracy theories, I received a hateful diatribe that I did not want to subject my readers to.
- Even writing about my favorite browser, Firefox, has brought me some hate mail!
Listen, if you want to hate me, fine, I can give you plenty of other reasons: I have more girlfriends than you, make more money than you, listen to music you don't like, have the respect and fear of criminals and government agents, I think ethnic jokes are funny, and more.
"A long time ago, I made me a rule. I let people do what they want to do."
— Hondo Lane (John Wayne)
— Hondo Lane (John Wayne)
If you want to hate me, I can't stop you. But my suggestion is to drop the emotional involvement over something that should be discussed intellectually. Disagree all you want. I can respect honest disagreement, especially if there is support for your viewpoint. Or, you can simply say, "I disagree and don't want to discuss it further". Fine. No hate, or love, in that, but at least it's a mature approach.
As Toby Keith sings, "Hate me if you want to, love me if you can". It's a challenge to love me. Are you up to the challenge? The truth is, I don't care if people hate me for what I say. There's nothing I can do about it except hope that they grow up enough to be able to carry on a rational discussion.
