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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Freedom to hate	Maria	Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Question: Thank you for the mostly adequate response to the previous question on freedom ; if I may elaborate a bit furthur, is not freedom to hate evil also a fundamental freedom given to us by God ! Not wanting to be argumentative , but would think that our Lord, in His human nature would have exercised this freedom to hate evil and yet not hate the person ; my need for clarification is about this aspect - of seeing an inner core of goodness or dignity in even those who seem to be sinners , thus helping us to become not hating of them ! Seems such a focus can help persons to keep peace while dealing with negatives , in oneself or others that need to be hated ; has wondered if such an approach could also help many who at present are dealing with hatred , in one form or other, that can manifest as addictions , even in areas of sexual identity etc : ; the many passages in Scripture that explicitly mention hatred may be there for us to get in touch with this part of us ; came across atleast one priest recently who seemed to have become rather antiwoman ; had heard of how he got in some problems atleast reputation wise , in this area and now seems scornful of womanhood in general, even saying such things as how Eve 'forced ' Adam to eat the fruit - has read such an interpretation only in Islamic literature as far as I know ! ; my suspicion is that such people , getting involved with woman may in itself have been more from some deep hatred towards a woman figure in their life ( sister, mother etc ;) and a mixture of envy and need to get control etc: may have been more operative than any real love and concern for welfare of the other ! There in comes the good use of the freedom to hate evil ! Would think that all parties , accepting early on , the necessary hatred towards any such evil traits could alert and avoid such sitautions ! Same for many in our cultre too being made aware of the right to hate other evil traits ; happeend to read how lesbianism is getting more widespread in colleges! Again, hatred of such traits may be a needed armour for many and for those who have adopted such traits, to explore all areas of unhealthy hatred in them towards persons or themselves , being able to see the self worth of their identity as persons /men/women may get to the root cause of these disorders ! Thank you for letting me share and please clarify and correct ,as part of our spiritual warfare work of mercy !
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Marie: There are two types of hatred. I think you are referring to one level and I to another level. From Father Hardon's Catholic Dictionary, hated is: A voluntary act by which someone or something is regarded with bitter aversion. On the first level hatred is directed against either God or some rational being; on the second level it is directed against some quality in another but without hatred of the individual personality. Personal hatred of God may take the form of disgust, when a person detests God because he punishes sinners. It is a grave sin because it is contrary to the justice of God. Another form is the hatred of enmity, when a person actually wished evil to God. Such hatred is of its nature diabolical, and is the most grievous of all sins, since it approximates the enmity that the devils have against God. Personal hatred of a human being is the direct opposite of the virtue of love. Where love inspires a person to wish well to another, hatred arouses the desire to do harm or have harm befall the one hated, not as a source of possible good, but precisely as evil. The gravity of such sins of personal hatred depends on how serious the harm wished or intended, and on how deliberately the malicious desires are harbored. Hatred or a quality in someone may be either sinful or not. If the hatred is directed only toward some evil quality that a person has, but does not touch that person, it is not sinful. It becomes sinful only if the hatred extends to the person who has some admittedly evil trait or sinful habit. Moreover, it becomes specially sinful when the hatred is directed at some virtue that a person possesses, even when the enmity does not extend to the individual personally. We are never to hate God or a person. But, we can hate an attribute in someone else as long as we do not hate the person (e.g., "hate the sin, not the sinner") Jesus "hated" what he saw at the temple and thus turned over the tables of the money-changers. But, did not hate the moneychangers themselves. God loves everyone, even those in hell. We can hate injustice, starvation, cruelty, sexual or other crimes, the sinful actions and beliefs in others, but we never hate the person. This sort of hatred, along with righteous anger motivates us to work for justice, peace, and love in our lives, in our communities, and in our society. I hope that clarifies the issue for you. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Freedom to hate

Maria

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Question:

Thank you for the mostly adequate response to the previous question on freedom ; if I may elaborate a bit furthur, is not freedom to hate evil also a fundamental freedom given to us by God !

Not wanting to be argumentative , but would think that our Lord, in His human nature would have exercised this freedom to hate evil and yet not hate the person ; my need for clarification is about this aspect - of seeing an inner core of goodness or dignity in even those who seem to be sinners , thus helping us to become not hating of them !

Seems such a focus can help persons to keep peace while dealing with negatives , in oneself or others that need to be hated ; has wondered if such an approach could also help many who at present are dealing with hatred , in one form or other, that can manifest as addictions , even in areas of sexual identity etc : ; the many passages in Scripture that explicitly mention hatred may be there for us to get in touch with this part of us ; came across atleast one priest recently who seemed to have become rather antiwoman ; had heard of how he got in some problems atleast reputation wise , in this area and now seems scornful of womanhood in general, even saying such things as how Eve 'forced ' Adam to eat the fruit - has read such an interpretation only in Islamic literature as far as I know ! ; my suspicion is that such people , getting involved with woman may in itself have been more from some deep hatred towards a woman figure in their life ( sister, mother etc ;) and a mixture of envy and need to get control etc: may have been more operative than any real love and concern for welfare of the other !

There in comes the good use of the freedom to hate evil !

Would think that all parties , accepting early on , the necessary hatred towards any such evil traits could alert and avoid such sitautions !

Same for many in our cultre too being made aware of the right to hate other evil traits ; happeend to read how lesbianism is getting more widespread in colleges!

Again, hatred of such traits may be a needed armour for many and for those who have adopted such traits, to explore all areas of unhealthy hatred in them towards persons or themselves , being able to see the self worth of their identity as persons /men/women may get to the root cause of these disorders !

Thank you for letting me share and please clarify and correct ,as part of our spiritual warfare work of mercy !

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Marie:

There are two types of hatred. I think you are referring to one level and I to another level.

From Father Hardon's Catholic Dictionary, hated is:

A voluntary act by which someone or something is regarded with bitter aversion. On the first level hatred is directed against either God or some rational being; on the second level it is directed against some quality in another but without hatred of the individual personality.
Personal hatred of God may take the form of disgust, when a person detests God because he punishes sinners. It is a grave sin because it is contrary to the justice of God. Another form is the hatred of enmity, when a person actually wished evil to God. Such hatred is of its nature diabolical, and is the most grievous of all sins, since it approximates the enmity that the devils have against God.
Personal hatred of a human being is the direct opposite of the virtue of love. Where love inspires a person to wish well to another, hatred arouses the desire to do harm or have harm befall the one hated, not as a source of possible good, but precisely as evil. The gravity of such sins of personal hatred depends on how serious the harm wished or intended, and on how deliberately the malicious desires are harbored.
Hatred or a quality in someone may be either sinful or not. If the hatred is directed only toward some evil quality that a person has, but does not touch that person, it is not sinful. It becomes sinful only if the hatred extends to the person who has some admittedly evil trait or sinful habit. Moreover, it becomes specially sinful when the hatred is directed at some virtue that a person possesses, even when the enmity does not extend to the individual personally.

We are never to hate God or a person. But, we can hate an attribute in someone else as long as we do not hate the person (e.g., "hate the sin, not the sinner")

Jesus "hated" what he saw at the temple and thus turned over the tables of the money-changers. But, did not hate the moneychangers themselves. God loves everyone, even those in hell.

We can hate injustice, starvation, cruelty, sexual or other crimes, the sinful actions and beliefs in others, but we never hate the person. This sort of hatred, along with righteous anger motivates us to work for justice, peace, and love in our lives, in our communities, and in our society.

I hope that clarifies the issue for you.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum