We hear the word “hate” a lot these days. Let’s look at what it may be about. Hate is holding on to blame, ill will, othering, resentment, and retaliation. Its definition is the opposite of that of forgiveness: a letting go of blame, ill will, othering, resentment, and retaliation. Forgiveness frees us and grants closure after a painful event. Hate stays in us, eats away at us. The rage, blame, and venomous ill will are unceasing. Our revenges are ongoing; our need to hurt back is insatiable. There is no “this revenge has gone far enough.” In hate, the need to hurt is never used up.

Satan, in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Book 4, says:

“For never can true reconcilement grow Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep:...

All hope excluded thus.”

When we hate, we do not seek reconciliation with the person we see as an offender. Nor do we want or accept compunction in that person. We will not be satisfied with an apology. We do not want reconnection, just ongoing punishment. We also lose any chance of having hope in humanity, which is a path to the revoking of hate. Hate-fueled vengeance is a frequent style among........

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