Main Entry: 1hate
Pronunciation: \ˈhāt\
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hete; akin to Old High German haz hate, Greek kēdos care
Date: before 12th century
1 a : intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury b : extreme dislike or antipathy
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, hate is derived from fear or anger. From personal experience, hate can often lead people to perform outrageous acts of violence against the person or persons their hatred is geared.
On Thursday, March 25th, UAB hosted a screening of the documentary, “The Anatomy of Hate: A Dialogue For Hope,” a Mike Ramsdell film. The night consisted of a large group of students, faculty and other Birmingham area residents watching the documentary. I attended this filming with William Anderson and Judi Cunniff Afterwards, there was a Q&A dialogue session directed towards two different groups on UAB’s campus: Life 180 and Birmingham’s Free Thought Society.
The documentary was so powerful, moving and heart wrenching. It vividly showed the hostility that overwhelms our world today and the affects it brings. Many of the subcultures Ramsdell interviews are thoroughly consumed with ethnocentrism. They believe they are superior to all others whether it is by their religion, sex preference or race. Something I realized very early on in the film is that hatred is part of enculturation, meaning that culture is learned and passed on to the children of the new generations. There were many examples of people still fighting their ancestor’s war because they passed it down from generation to generation. At one part of the movie where they showed some of the kids that were part of the white supremacist group, my stomach churned. These little angels, straight from heaven, grow up with hatred engraved in their hearts. There were even parts through the movie where I broke down and cried. What Ramsdell did with this film is unbelievable. He brought these stories together to make a film that has touched me forevermore.
After the film, a dialogue session followed. Audience members asked questions directed to two different UAB groups, one Christian, the other agnostic/atheist/etc. The dialogue was intense at the beginning with the first commenter stating the men who did not believe in God were fools. The director was able to jump in and take the conversation back over pretty quickly. I am a Christian and was sitting in between a Muslim, Buddhist and among other nonbelievers [of God]. It was interesting to see the different reactions of my fellow students when other audience members made certain comments throughout the dialogue session. The time that I felt the most uncomfortable was when a girl began asking questions about the Bible. The people around me began to huff, puff, and shift in their seats. They made it very clear they did not want to hear it. Regardless, I believe the dialogue focused too much between Christians and non-believers, rather than a dialogue session about the actual movie itself.
Overall, the film was so inspiring. It is a reminder that we have the choice to have hatred in our lives or not. It is infused in our minds like something we cannot change, but rather it has grown in our hearts. It is our choice to raise it up or shut it down.
Main Entry: 1hope
Pronunciation: \ˈhōp\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): hoped; hop·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hopian; akin to Middle High German hoffen to hope
Date: before 12th century
intransitive verb
1 : to cherish a desire with anticipation
Me and Judi (William ran off...lol we didn't know where he went so we took it with just us together)
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