Tuesday Truth: Hate is Harmful

It's been awhile since I did a Tuesday Truth: since May, in fact! But events this week have been making me think. Then, while editing, I found this very interesting chant, purported to be said by witches as they signed the Devil's book, which says (in part):

Suppress those who speak the truth,

and do not praise the deeds of anyone, but seek to slander them.

Well, this made me stop and think a bit about what I've been seeing coming from people all over the place over the past year or so. Those last two lines really resonated with me (there is more to it than that, but I'm only using the relevant bit), because what I've been seeing from certain factions is a lot of truth-suppressing, and a lot of slandering in the name of "freedom of expression." The "I have the right to say whatever I want" crowd (but Goddess forbid that someone else should say something that contradicts that; their concept of freedom of expression only extends to themselves, not to any opposing viewpoint). Some of the worst offenders include people like a certain author I've noticed that seems to think she can say whatever venomous things come to her brain with no danger of it coming back to bite her on the butt. I would strongly advise you not to explore her website, but if you want to see some really vitriolic stuff, go look at the BBA Whisperer. She claims to speak out against Badly Behaving Authors while being the worst offender I've ever seen. If your sick curiosity does lead you over there, whatever you do: do not engage with this person. She is poison, pure and simple.

Here's the thing. Hatred is harmful. Hatred is not only harmful to the people who have been attacked at the BBA Whisper and other sites like it, but it is harmful to the people who live in hatred and spend all their time searching out new reasons to hate new people. Can you imagine what sort of sad life these people have to endure to do these sorts of things? So, when you see people spewing venom and hatred, do what I do: block them. Ignore them. Walk away from their sorry asses and let them stew in their own misery and despair. If you give them any attention at all, they will just keep doing this over and over again. And we really do not want that. Choose instead to surround yourself with people who have a positive outlook on life, who will choose to be excited over things they love rather than spreading lies and misinformation about things they hate. This doesn't mean you need to be all fluffy bunnies and unicorns farting glitter, it just means to treat everyone with respect. It's basically the Golden Rule or, as someone told me: "If I wouldn't say it to their face, I won't type it to them on the Internet." That's a good rule to follow.

Peace, and stay safe out there.