This is rich! I am told by an Answermugger that I should HATE the muslims of today because of what the Turkish Government did to my people many decades ago. Seriously. Why hate the innocent? Do you?

It's a very silly argument.  Were it not silly, where would one draw the line?  Gaul lost over a million due to the depredations of Julius Caesar - does it matter that it happened over 2,000 years ago?  Or is a million not quite enough?  

What people constantly confuse is what is actually responsible for evil acts, now and in the past.  It's never, ever a people and always an idea, but many seem to be unable to see this.  Now there is no doubt that religions contains ideas aplenty, but what motivates those ideas?  Are there conflicting and opposing ideas, why are some followed and others not?  And are they held equally across the group that holds the idea, the religion, the ideology?

The most basic level of knowledge provides the answers and the answer to the last one is always 'no'.  People are different, their experiences are different, and so their attitudes and actions will be different.  Attempting to 'lump' huge numbers of people together in order to condemn them is often, I'm afraid, the act of the coward.  We can all be nervous about what's going on in the world, but a measure of our humanity, our decency and our self respect can be gained by how we react.  Fearfully, lashing out blindly like frightened, screaming children or in a considered fashion like adults.  It's not a hard choice really, if for no other reason than the first choice makes people look like idiots.  I'm surprised so many find it so difficult.

Thank for your very logical and thoughtful answer MrWitch. I call such folks "SCAIRDY CATS". The sky is always falling or about to fall and they need to blame someone for their fears and hates so they will use anything, anytime, anywhere no matter absurd, far-fetched, delusional. Of course it always makes sense to them. Sadly. That is what is so very scary about them!  Happy Sunday! :)

But ancient tragedies DO justify current hatreds. Do you not think, for example, that old occupation and oppression justify current hatred towards the oppressors of the world? Whomever they may be?

It is thanks to people like this, who perpetuate hatred, that the world is so "crapped up" (I like that, btw). 

I don't judge or dislike people based on such things as race, religion, gender, etc. I base my assessments of people based on their own actions and words. Hating an entire group of people is just ignorant and loathsome. 

Your mentally challenged Mugger should be busy hating a whole slew of people then.  Let's not forget those Krauts and Japs for attacking us.  And those geeks in Viet Nam.  What about those beans in Cuba, almost starting a war being defended by those pinko Ruskies in Asia?  

God, I am tired already.  And I should hate my own people too because Mussolini was a despot.

Your Mugger is an unthinking child. 

 I disagree emphatically/completely/totally/unequivocally. Those who were responsible for the murder of 1.5 million Armenians before I was born (I'm 78)  are long-since dead. To blame today's Muslims for something that happened before they were born seems ridiculous to me.  Why should I HATE anyone who never did anything to harm me? You want to blame the descendants of those people? Would YOU like to be hated for something your ancestors did long ago? Seriously NHP. Would you? That makes absolutely no sense to me. Paying hatred forward decade after decade with no possibility of ever facing the people who actually committed the crimes?  Not my cuppa tea. Thank you for your reply and Happy Sunday to thee!  :)

((hugs)) I so totally agree with thee SA.  That's the problem with the world. Some people promulgate hatred because they find it comforting  for some reason. Shockingly sad to be true but true it is. Forgive the hugs but I"m 78 and harmless. I just really appreciate your reply.   Thank you for your response SA and Happy Sunday! :)

I am done with him. I wasted too much time already and he is not worth it. Thank you for your reply Sharonna. Perpetuating hatred decade after decade after decade is such a sad enterprise. I can't understand why some folks thrive on it. Can you?  :(

You misunderstand my answer, my friend. Or perhaps it's me who misunderstand the question.
You should know by now that advocating hate against a whole group of people is not my thing.
However. . .
To expect a group of people to have loving and accepting attitudes towards those who for decades have oppressed them is a little myopic. Sometimes hate is the natural response.
Again, I understand your point as it refers to the Turkish, and I agree, I just have a little problem with it when I try to generalise it.
It's always a pleasure to disagree with you. It's refreshing to be able to discuss an issue without getting sucked in into the quagmire of personal insults.

No, I do not hate the innocent. I don't hate people for their beliefs any more than I hate them for their nationality or skin colour. I also don't think it's fair to tar all Muslims with the same brush. Not all Muslims are terrorists, in fact those who are are in the minority and not true to the faith. No, Rosie, I can only hate individual people for personal reasons, people who have done something to offend me personally. Then I hate them with a ferocious intensity and I seldom if ever forgive them. But that does not apply to just any people just because they belong in a particular religious or ethnic group. Hating innocent people for that kind of reason is totally incomprehensible to me for the plain and simple reason that it is far too impersonal for me to even consider. Happy Sunday, Rosie!:)

Ah Sharonna, Mussolini WAS a despot, but at least the trains ran on time (end of sarcasm).

Krauts, eh? Isn't that a racist word? It ought to be, it's a derogatory name for people from a specific country. How is it any different from other derogatory words to describe people from a specific country?

 When and where did I say that loving and accepting attitudes were necessary? All I said was I think it is STOOPID to hate people who are long-since dead so much that you take it out on their descendants. Don't  you think that is STOOPID too? Folks who have done me no wrong because it all occurred long before they were born and I was born? I am supposed to punish them for what their ancestors did?   Why? I mean I'm the one whose  people were slaughtered. I'm the one whose great  grandfather, great grandmother and aunt died on a death march. If I have no animus against today's Muslims where do those who have no dog in that fight get off perpetuating hate? It is insulting to me personally. I am told by outsiders how I "should feel"? Seriously. Those who have never experienced what my people experienced have the gall to tell me what I should feel, how I should react? I think not.  Thank you for your reply NHP. I enjoy civil disagreement. I enjoy being agreeable when I disagree. I see no advantage to being otherwise and I have no time to waste on those who don't have a clue. You do! Thanks! 

:)

Rosie, I love the way you think about letting past atrocities be over and allowing relationships to heal.

But unfortunately, I think what you expect of peoples as a whole is psychologically impossible for most.

Your example of a 10-year-old child is a perfect case in point. When a child is harmed, he or she doesn't have the capacity to avoid associating agony, terror and loss with the perpetrator and whatever bosses and causes lay behind it. He or she might not know the whole of it at the time, but soon will. The memory travels deep into the unconscious and into the nervous system throughout the whole body. To learn how to overcome this in later life usually takes an enormous amount of therapy, far more expensive than most people can afford, and often there is no good therapist available.

Being sincerely religious definitely can help - but people who can truly forgive (something that happened to them personally and to their loved ones) are saints like Mandela.

I agree that it makes sense to let go of things that happened in the distant past. And sometimes healing on this level does occur. For instance, some Japanese have apologised to Australians for what happened on the Burma railway during WWII.

But again, not all healing is as simple as that. White Australians committed genocide against Aboriginals - and their descendants up to seven generations later still bear the emotional scars. (As do most whites, although most don't know it. For the perpetrators harm their own spirits in the act of harming others.)

The problem is that the emotional harm affects the mind-hearts of parents so deeply that the way they raise their children unconsciously passes on the emotional wounds. Often the top surface of that wound is expressed as distrust, fear and/or anger at the criminals.

I am not saying that these reactions are an excuse for perpetuating hatreds, but they are natural and normal results of persecution. Emotional wounds run very deep and are far harder to heal than physical ones. Unfortunately, they are transmissible through and infectious across generations, unless the right actions for societal healing are taken.

Few countries have begun to learn what these actions are.

It took over a thousand years for the Celts to forgive the Vikings, Danes, Angles and Normans for invading, stealing property, burning, raping, torturing, murdering, and taking rule of England and Scotland - and still there are pejorative jokes about redheads.

Racism is a pernicious disease of society. It needs to be treated in the same way as we treat psychiatric disorders - an immensely complex and difficult task at the societal level.

Even so, it is essential that this task be undertaken. We can never achieve peace without it.

And your cry of protest against hatred comes from compassion which I greatly respect.

Jesus calls us to love everyone. "Love your enemies, and pray for those who hate you and despitefully use you."

I understand, thank you for responding Rosie.

:)

:)

Actually, I've missed seeing the person who is or was perpetuating hatred, but in my view, such action is against the agreements for behaviour on this site, and he deserves to be reported.

I know, Rosie, that you prefer that people should be allowed to speak so they expose themselves for what they are - but what happens if they succeed in proliferating hate?

My plea - please consider reporting him or her to JA.

Hugs are acceptable, appreciated and reciprocated! : )

I don´t get generalizations , either.

Just recently I heard a European man saying he doesn´t want to do anything with Japan and its people because of what happened in the war.

As if 60 plus years hadn´t gone by and the new generation had something to do with what happened in those days.

I asked him if he didn´t use any Japanese electronics, either, he said , that was a different thing.

SMH

The biblical god orders the killings of all those (  babies and animals , included ) that he fears are not followers to his faith.

Very sweet guy, huh .

What about what the American government did after Pearl Harbor to Japanese Americans who did nothing wrong? We put them in internment camps! Yes we did. A knee-jerk reaction by frightened Americans against citizens of their own country Uc. On the way up north when we  visit relatives we go by one such site. Matawan. There is one of those roadside plaques one sees identifying historical  places. It is wrenching. I think of all those children who wouldn't understand why they were uprooted from their homes and all the adults who understood only too well.    People will always be what they are and nothing better than what they are and if something happens again like that humans will react badly again.  Out of fear.  We had the McCarthy hearings that were another black mark/wart/shameful time because we feared Communism. Now it is Muslims/immigrants we fear. Why are we so afraid?Thank you for your reply Uc. When you confront such folks they either ignore  you or insult you. The extent of their ability to communicate rationally is very limited. Happy Monday to thee! :)