PLATFORM : Say <i> No</i> to Hate

When we were children, the cries of “I hate you” were often used indiscriminately. With typical childhood hyperbole, we used the strongest words at our command to express our dislikes. Children often confuse their anger and frustration with hate.

We have entered an era, like many before, where hate has become accepted behavior. Despite the lessons of history, the world is set on flirting with its own destruction again. Rhetoric shouted from a long-dismantled German pulpit is rejected for the hate it inspired, yet today, from a thousand pulpits, similar messages appear. Whether the hate is based on ethnicity, politics or sexual orientation, it seeks to reduce the targeted population to no more than germs to be purged or poisons to be regurgitated.

It is only in the throes of hate that weapons of mass destruction will ever be used. Yet there is little talk of limiting strategic arms capabilities. What good is dismantling the bomb while leaving the fuse intact and armed?

It is time to establish a “zero tolerance” for hate throughout the world.