Just my opinion, but I see nothing wrong with despising people who are inherently evil. I agree it's best not to let that consume you, but I see nothing wrong with it and in fact have been saying for a long time that much of what is happening now is (in part) related to how "modern humans" have been discounting or ignoring the presence of evil and the power it can have.

I hate Twitler, all his family and his minions. Never in my life have I ever craved violence against another living thing. Their ascendancy has changed that. I also never had violent dreams in which I am seeing the deaths of those I consider inherently evil (not even Manson or Dahmer). Not until 11/9...

Good people hating on evil? As far as I'm concerned, it's a form of self-defense and well justified. We're not the people perpetrating hatred and violence. We're not the ones carrying around loaded guns, writing online "manifestos" or chasing those who seek asylum in our midst. We're not the ones twisting the words of ancient writings to suit our own purposes. We're not the ones acting on hatred.

If you want to love on what you see as a lost soul, good for you, you go right ahead. Meanwhile I'll just keep visualizing certain heads on pikes... Sorry. Not sorry.

Hi Jeanne, 

I think the idea in the article is one that we can aspire to. I have my difficulties being able to love someone who has done so much harm and damage to a large portion of the country and even the world. I keep finding myself praying for justice to be done to those who are hurting others and protection for those being hurt. The article was interesting in that it just gives us all another way to view the situation and try to work in an energetically positive way. As I have mentioned before, I actually think that T feeds off all of the attention and energy - both positive and negative and I, for one, do not want to contribute to the energy going in his direction. I am searching for ways to help improve the world without adding to the negative side of things,

When confronted with someone I hate, which isn't often, I try to make an energy connection with their higher self or spirit guide, and communicate my wish for the very best for the person, in ways where they can do no harm. I wish them out of my life, but in a way that's good for them. This helps me wish them out of my orbit, but without wishing them ill. The current white house occupant is testing my usual way of dealing with awful people, but maybe we should all do this. In the end, do we want revenge, or do we want him to go away and stop doing harm? 

When I was a college student in upstate New York, I began attending Quaker worship services. Most Quaker services are non-hierarchical and consist of silent meditation: everyone gathers in a circle and sits pondering their own thoughts. If someone feels the divine urge to speak, they interrupt the silence and share their thoughts (this is a hard thing to do, and in the majority of Friends meetings I’ve been to, no one speaks up). But in one of the first meetings I attended, a man shared a story that was reported on by the local public radio station. I'll paraphrase the story here:

On a Friday in October, a man drove into Watertown to complete a few chores. As he was approaching his parked car to go home later that evening, a younger man stopped him, brandished a knife in front of his face, and demanded that he hand over his wallet. The older man complied, but just as the thief was about to leave, spoke up; “Wait. If you're going to be out in the cold all night trying to steal from people, then here, take my coat." The thief, disarmed by such unexpected kindness, returned the man's wallet, and was invited by his one-time victim to join him at a coffee shop. There, the younger man shared his life's story: a childhood in a broken family and abusive household, followed by learning disabilities, challenges at school, and an institutional apparatus that was focused on disciplining his misbehavior instead of repairing his childhood trauma. From there, he moved onto opioid abuse and addiction, which landed him on the streets at night, stealing from people. Having heard all of this, the older man put the younger man in touch with nonprofit drug treatment and homelessness services, and gave him his phone number with the promise that he could call him whenever he needed someone to talk to.

 This story encapsulates the powers not just of love, but of insight; recognition that all of us are products of complexities and circumstances we don't have full control over, and that acknowledging those convoluted lived experiences can make a profound difference. The older man I recounted in the story above was able to see the thief for the complex, hurting human being he really was, and intervened in a way that is sure to send ripples beyond one or two particular lives. The man's actions are echoed in Joanna Macy's book Earth as Lover, Earth as Self, when she recounts a Tibetan lama who taught her that the Shambhala Warriors – the light workers that will direct human society away from self-destruction – are armed with two weapons:

“The weapons are compassion and insight...You have to have compassion because it provides the fuel to move you out there to do what is needed. It means not being afraid of the suffering of our world. But that weapon is very hot, and by itself is not enough. It can burn you out, so you need the other – you need insight into the dependent co-arising of all things. With that wisdom you know that it is not a battle between the good guys and the bad guys, for the line between good and evil runs through the landscape of every human heart (my emphasis). And with that insight, you also know that each action undertaken with pure intent has repercussion throughout the web of life, beyond what you can measure and or discern."

So I’d like to concur with Jeanne’s point: when loving a violent, ugly individual seems beyond our capacity, we should at least exercise insight into the societal conditions that have created so much hatred and ugliness. Perhaps we shouldn’t be conflating love with compassion in the first place. I feel like love is too fluffy and passive a term to describe what we’re being called on to do in this age. Being open to the world’s pain, however, actually asks something of us. It’s one thing to feel compassion for the undeniable victims: the caged children at the US-Mexico border, the imprisoned activists from Standing Rock. It takes a lot more effort and courage, however, to be compassionate towards the bigots, misogynists, and “gundamentalists” among us. Yet we have to be willing to do just that, for the law of dependent co-arising mentioned by Macy teaches us that evil people do not sprout out of the ground fully formed. Rather, evil is inculcated by our very own collective actions.

So ask yourself; what can I do to prevent more Trumps and Brett Kavanaughs from coming onto the scene? To me, that means not judging or demonizing "the other." I even cringe at epithets like “Fox-watching zombie” (the left’s dehumanizing equivalent of “lib-tard”). Instead, I try to learn about the individual stories of people who are opposed to my viewpoints. An offer of “here, have my coat” will not purge Trump supporters of all of their hate. But hate is a symptom of profound individual pain in a society built upon separation and dehumanization. To say “I’m listening, now tell me about the things that have happened to you,” might be the best way to begin healing the wounds of our paradigm of separation (truth and reconciliation commissions, like the one that took place in South Africa after Apartheid, have their origins in this practice of listening). I don’t think you need to love your opponent in order to do this. All you need is insight into causality and the recognition that everyone these days has been deprived of meaningful human connection on some level.

Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.
― Nelson Mandela

I am not sure I can hate him.

 I CAN be angry, flabbergasted, shocked, fearful and upset with him.  

I recognize the evil at work. The deep darkness.  I will name it and call it what it is.

Hate is just a whole other animal.  I am not sure what type of situation would occur for me to actually hate someone.  Perhaps there could be something but I am not  sure.  I find myself more like the father of the prodigal son.  I would want to welcome the person back with open arms IF they saw the error of their ways and truly repented for the harm they caused.  In Trump's case it would be a daunting task for him to achieve.

Now, as for loving Donald Trump.  That is tricky.  I think there is some form of love there,  but it seems to branch off in feelings of pity and sorrow for him.  He is a miserable human being, of his own creation.  He has caused his own tragedy.  He is the stuff of a great Greek or Shakespeare tragedy,  He is an Aesop Fable with multiple cautionary chapters.  He puts the Grimm in Grimm fairy tale.  But, he is real.  He is now.  He is OUR burden.  

It is the time of Trump.   He has allowed evil and darkness to gain finger holds across this nation.  Across the world.  I don't believe one can fight darkness with hate.  Since I chose to fight, I must fight with light.  To fight FOR light, goodness and love.  

I sit here and am reminded of the name I chose for this forum.  If LOVE is to ENDURE, it must be given, seen, felt and shared.  I think it needs to be FOR something and not so much against something.  

My feelings about this time we are living in, on him, on where we are in the world and the roll I have the opportunity and choice  to play ( for it is an opportunity and it is a choice) ...wow...  lots to process here.

Their accusations are confessions <- This is so true.

About a year ago, I was trying to do past life regressions via hypnotherapy (unsuccessful).  However, what was unexpected was that I started to channel.  What came through (real or not....who knows) was that a lot of the people that supported Trump were hurt and angry.  They were hurt because they didn't feel "special".

There are programs in place to help minorities.  Black Lives Matter.  LGBTQ activism.  All these things helping "those" people, but nothing helping "us" and our tribe.

I get it.  My high school was a minority high school (but caucasians made up the biggest minority), we had a week in the Spring called "Brotherhood" week.  The idea was that each day would focus on one of the ethnic groups in the school (Mexican, Black, Polynesian, Asian) to share their culture with the student body.  However, there was no "white" component to brotherhood week, and as immature teenagers, we would complain to each other about it.  The other groups were "special" and we weren't.  All Brotherhood week really accomplished, from our perspective, was to point out that whites weren't special.

Is this what the interior of the country and those that support Trump think?  All these special interest groups representing minorities, yet no one is representing them?  Then Trump comes along, bashes the elite, bashes those that don't support farmers, trashes previous administrations and blames them for the economic suffering the rust belt, blames them for the ignoring the farmers, etc.  The Trumpsters are angry and FINALLY a candidate comes along and vocalizes their insecurities and says he's going to change it and make America Great Again.  These supporters hadn't though of America not being Great, but now....upon reflection......Trump makes sense.  Their insecure feelings, their anger isn't because they feel guilty......the insecure feelings are because America has declined and they recognized it!  And it is because of those BLM people, those LGBTQ people, those Democrats!  And finally, there is a guy who is rich (therefore smart and successful) FINALLY saying what REALLY happened!!!

Sigh.

They are misguided....so filled with anger because, deep down, they are hurt because they don't feel special. 

How do we get past this?  We have to figure out a way to finally kill off slavery.  Kill off the mistreatment of Native Americans.  Put those legacies down and to rest forever.

Then, we need to change our perspective from race to economic need.  College admissions for Affirmative Action shouldn't be based on race.....it should be based on economic need.  This will help poorer American families who do have the will and skill for college.  This leaves AA in place, but it helps poor people of all races.  Minorities still make up a great percentage of the poor, but not all minorities are poor.

I can look back and be embarrassed by my high school mindset.  I can blame it on the culture in my household, but it was me who said the words.  As I matured and became more worldly, I see the error of my thinking.  This is why we need to be able to forgive Trump supporters, we have to give them a chance to mature and see the errors of their ways.  To see it was their own fears and insecurities that drove them and that people in power manipulated their fears and insecurities for their own gain.  Give them a chance to show they won't get fooled again.

I'm grateful for this particular topic.  So many insightful posts from this wonderful community.  I've been pondering the following question:  can you have compassion without love?  Or love without compassion?  I'm not sure, but maybe it depends on how you define them.  For compassion to exist, aren't you aware of the interconnectedness of people?  And doesn't love require us to see that we are all part of the whole, the same life energy?  I don't mean to get bogged down with semantics, but I've been wondering.  

I can relate to Coyote's statement "I feel like love is too fluffy and passive a term to describe what we’re being called on to do in this age." It feels too sweet, too soft.  As Coyote remarked, "passive."  A soft response to what is now occurring in our country seems impotent -- ridiculous, even.  But does love have to be passive?  I don't believe so. 

I love Coyote’s quotation from Joanna Macy’s book regarding compassion and insight.  When I read Stardancer’s posts about her level of involvement with T***** voters as she does her community work, I see her compassion and insight into their life situations.  Is that love?  I can’t speak for Stardancer, but it feels like it to me.   

I agree that it’s important not to judge or demonize the other.  In the short run it might help me to let off some steam, but it does nothing to heal the wounds of our divisions.  But it’s not always easy to do, is it?  Especially during these times.  We’re a miraculous, flawed, and complicated species! 

I once mentioned in a post that I live in a blue, progressive county of a purple state.  We have a neighborhood Saturday farmer’s market that just opened for the season.  Although I don’t know for sure about their individual politics, I do sometimes make assumptions about some of the vendors, since many of them come from the redder counties of the state.  I noticed that Jimmy, one of the young guys who works behind the sausage stand, had some beautiful tattoos on both of his arms.  I commented on how much I loved his tattoos, adding that if I were his age and didn’t have some of my autoimmune issues, I would have a few myself.  He smiled and thanked me, adding “you’d be surprised by a lot of people’s reactions.”  “Like what?” I asked.   Under his breath Jimmy replied “People have called me white trash.”   I saw the anger in Jimmy’s eyes.  “I’m NOT white trash,” he quickly added.  Then I saw Jimmy's pain.  As if he needed to defend himself.  I replied, "they're stupid people.  Don't pay attention to them."   Jimmy is about 19, studying at a community college to go into law enforcement.  There’s a certain intense determination about him, and a quiet strength.  He’s been working this stand since high school.  I overheard Jimmy tell another vendor that he’s gotten all A’s this semester.  I’ve never seen him in a MAGA hat, but he proudly wears an NRA cap.  I must admit that when I first saw his cap, I internally winced.   

What I outwardly see is never the full picture.  I hope that I never lose sight of that.

Thank you deetoo. Your probing of the definitions of love mirrors my own thought process. I think most of us on this forum would agree on some level that love is borne of acknowledging our interconnectedness as humans. Yet I also tried to don the perspective of a skeptic; someone who would read this thread and think "Love your enemy? What a bunch of hippie crock." But when we break down love into it's prerequisites - feeling the world's pain, insight into cause and effect, and forgiveness (thanks for that thought, Jeanne) - the act of loving our opponents is "de-fuzzified" and can be understood as an effortful process that requires personal growth, as Cindy so eloquently pointed out. So you're right, deetoo, love does not have to be passive. 

To echo almost everyone else here; so much to ponder! Am I the only one who feels like some of these threads need to be collected in book form and printed for posterity? 

deetoo,  I appreciate so much of what you share in your post and throughout the forum, especially the questions. I, too have been asking myself questions, wondering and reflecting on our current circumstances.

Although I long for a new administration along with a democratic controlled senate, my heart knows that in itself will not heal the division in our country. We all need to change finding ways to heal the divisions between us.  

“What I outwardly see is never the full picture.  I hope that I never lose sight of that.” 

I really relate to that, deetoo. So many opportunities to begin to get a clearer picture through conversations, aren’t there? We all have a story to share. I doubt there is a person I wouldn’t love if I knew their story. Having an open heart has at times meant being used and exploited a time or two. But if I err, I want to err on the side of generosity. 

There are so many layers to this. Especially regarding love. Sometimes love is tough. It may require saying or making very difficult decisions that do not appear loving. Love looks like that too. It sometimes means loosing a relationship with someone who is behaving in destructive ways that would take us down with them. Loving well takes courage. Forgiveness, yes. Reconciliation is a different matter. 

So many things to consider. 

I am also so grateful for the  insight, kindness that so many share within this forum.