Hate is a horrible thing to let loose in your heart. It kills, it maims, it causes so much sorrow that one has to wonder, why do we hate? I suppose part of it, is that it is human nature to experience all of the emotions. We use the hate in our hearts, to defend ourselves, to perhaps justify the atrocities we commit in the name of National Pride, of Religious Freedom, of Freedom. Somehow, it just doesn’t seem right to me, and today we are perhaps reaping the results of unchecked hate.
Is hate really natural or is it something we learn?
It is becoming clear, to those who have their eyes open, that the Internet is very much like the Old West depicted in the movies. It is lawless and it is becoming clear that many out there are using the Internet to be the whipping boy, the scapegoat for much of what goes on in our society. Look at some of the recent laws, such as 2257 for adult sites, the Adam Walsh bill regarding cyber stockers or the proposed XXX top level domain. They all are attempts to regulate the Internet in the so called name of protecting children, in attempting to bring to heel the lawlessness of the Internet.
Problem is, the lawlessness of the Internet isn’t due to a lack of laws, but due to a lack of education, at schools and in the home itself. Parents today fail society and their own children because they choose to ignore the realities of the world. They refuse to own up to their own OBLIGATIONS of being a parent.
People aren’t born knowing how to hate, or even knowing what hate is. It is what they are TAUGHT. Take bullying. When a child is born, they don’t know the difference between black, white, yellow, red or anything. Children are borne, they don’t get to choose whether their skin is white or green, they don’t get to decide if they will be Jewish or Catholic or Muslim, and they don’t get to choose if they are heterosexual or homosexual and yet so many hate based on what a person has no control over.
People are dying in Iraq, in Dafur, and elsewhere around the world, and many of it is simply because someone, somewhere, hates a group of people. Radical Islamists attack and kill Americans and other Westerners because they hate us, because someone taught them to, taught them that GOD is on their side and demands they kill. It isn’t some magic incantation that beguiles or tricks people, it is something they are taught, just as groups like Focus on the Family teach their children and others, to hate Homosexuals (see commentary ‘Making Victims’).
Children learn from their parents, from society that it is wrong to bully and hate African Americans, Latino’s, Jews, and other minorities. President Bush after 9/11 made it a point to not denigrate Muslims and to state the war on Terror was not a war on Islam. The previous Pope did as well, but yet when it comes to Homosexuals, they do everything possible to foster the hatred, to promote the fear of us, and to vilify us. Whether it is the Pope calling us Subversive, or Governor Romney demanding we are threatening his religious freedoms, or Stephen Harper decrying how homosexuals threaten the sanctity of the Family, it all sends signals to bullies everywhere, that attacking Gays is okay.
Children learn from the adults, and so far they are learning how to hate, how to torment and abuse others who are perceived as weaker, as inferior. This includes using the tools we place in their hands, such as the Internet. Passing laws to punish is fine, to a small degree. It does send a signal, but the core problem won’t go away because of some anti-Internet anti-bullying law. It has to start in the home, where parents have to take control over their kids.
If a child surfs the net and comes across an adult site, is it my responsibility simply because I built the site? Or is it the obligation of the parent to know what their kid is doing on-line?
If a child is giving out public information in a chat room, is it my obligation to stop him simply because the chat community is my brainchild or is it not the responsibility of the parent to insure their kid knows what he/she can say or not?
If a kid goes on-line and torments another, (see Story) because they perceive that kid is different, is homosexual, is it my obligation or the schools to punish them or is it not the parent’s obligation, duty, and responsibility to teach their kid that hate, that racism, is wrong, no matter what?
I wonder if these people, like the Pope or Stephen Harper, even comprehend what damage they do, when they push their beliefs on others? I mean it is one thing to express your opinion, but it is another to actively go around and try to force that opinion on others. That is refined bullying, something the Pope is very adept at doing these days. The anti-gay groups are good teachers. The way they take studies, and twist them to their own meanings, while all the time using religion as a cover for their hatred.
Cyber bullying is a bi-product of the technology age, but it doesn’t require new laws to regulate it, it needs old fashioned education to show that bigotry, hatred, racism, and intolerance’s are not okay. It has to start with electing political leaders who will demonstrate that philosophy not embrace a climate of hate, as Stephen Harper does.
It isn’t about new laws, but about forcing, yes forcing, parents to accept responsibility for the actions of their own children. No it isn’t easy to sit and keep an eye on what your kid is doing, it is inconvenient and time consuming, but it is the RIGHT THING TO DO! It is called BEING A PARENT.
The Internet isn’t lawless, it is merely a reflection and a tool of what society itself is. Racism exists on-line, because it is being taught in the home, in schools, and in the workplace. When people like Tim Hardaway spouts off their homophobic remarks, it isn’t that he’s just gay bashing, he is also telling others it is okay to gay bash. When the Pope calls us Subversive, immoral, he is telling kids it is okay to hate and lash out at Gays, because GOD is on their side, no different that the kids of Terrorists who are taught GOD is demanding them to kill Americans.
Time we took responsibility for ourselves, instead of blaming others. The Internet isn’t the villain here, it is a tool that can reach out, can educate, can enlighten us, if we let it. The hatred, the racism that exists can be stamped out, not with segregation laws like the XXX TLD, but by parents starting to assume their role in their kid’s lives.
In short, take responsibility for what you have sired, your children.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:03 pm
[...] How about the number of teenage girls that abandon their babies because Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t understand them being pregnant, let alone care for the unwanted infant? Or maybe the high morals of those who insist that if you hit people and abuse them simply because they are gay, it isn’t hate motivated? (see comment ‘Shoulder The Blame’) [...]