Is hatred wrong?

Question

Is hatred important for discerning sin, or can humanity exist in societies that rehabilitate and heal 'sins' rather than hate them?

Answer 1

Although we are counseled, "Hate the sin but love the sinner," Hatred is not important for discerning sin. Since with the fall the intellect was darkened and the will weakened, we often hate some sins too much and other sins not enough. We seem to hate sins of the flesh far too much relative to the degree we ignore (or admire!) sins of the will or intellect (which are much more severe).

The "supernatural virtues" are needed to discern what is sinful and avoid sin. Hatred of sin can temporarily be helpful in giving one the motivation to avoid sin, but love of God and fear of doing anything that would displease Him is a much more powerful and permanent motivator (since we hate only imperfectly).

Sin cannot be healed. Through grace and arduous effort, it can be prevented and stopped. Sinners can be healed.

Because humans tend to hate the sinner as much as the sin, it would be best for individuals and society to always keep feelings of hatred in check.

Answer 2

There is hatred for people, and there is hatred for wrong doing.
Hatred of certain foods, etc. Hatred is not wrong, if it is directed at wrong doing. Those who diliberately harm others, be it animal vegetable or human. It is the wrong behavior that should be hated, Sin is just imperfection, not following God's standards, his standards have not changed, people have because Satan is having an impact on how people behave, the evil that mankind experiences is far out of proportion to the malice of the humans involved, that is why dispite the desire of the majority to live in peace, mankind has been plagued with hatred, violence and war for thousands of years, and why this has reached such a level that is now threatens to destroy all mankind. Some people blame the devil for what they themselves do, but humans must bear much of the blame for the badness they experience, whether at the hand of other humans or as a result of their own conduct.

Answer 3

Is hatred wrong?

Depends on the object of the Hatred.

It is wrong to hate a human person or God.

It is right to hate sin and do our best to avoid it.

I think rehabilitation is a pipe dream in some cases; works ok in other cases. The majority of criminals in the US who are supposedly being rehabilitated end up back in prison after their release... Makes me generally skeptical of Rehabilitation as a sole purpose of prison/ justice system.

IOW, there should be more to Justice than just attempted Rehabilitiation.

Cordially.
John

Answer 4

I like the concept but Only God can judge anything as sin and only God can rehabilitate/heal sin.

For society to try would in it's self be an act of hatred against what society judges as sin but not God.

Remenber David was a murderer and adulter who had a Holy union wiht an other guy (Johnathan).

Answer 5

Sin, in and of itself, cannot be rehabilitated or healed. Sin is disobedience and separation from God. We can only live in Sin or choose not to.

Hatred has nothing to do with discerning Sin. We can discern it at anytime in any state of emotion.

God... and Christians... hate the Sin but love the sinner. In this case Hate would be acceptable.

Answer 6

God hates sin. We all are sinners (Rom 3:23). The righteous and just penalty of sin is death, i.e. body and the lake of fire.

Sin is what seperates us from God.

Nowhere does the Bible say that sin can be healed.

A person can repent from sin and through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior be forgiven and saved.

I do not condone hatred, except against sinful ways. But to simply say hate is not right takes a too simplistic view. Here are some biblical references about hate:

[David writes] " I hate every false way." [Ps. 119:104]
"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is an appointed time for every event under heaven -- ...A time to love and a time to hate;" [Ecc 3:1 and 8]
"Hate evil, love good..." [Amos 5:15]
"'For I hate divorce,' says the Lord, the God of Israel..." [Mal. 2:16]

Answer 7

Hatred is really intense dislike/dissatisfaction/ displeasure with something. Hatred in itself is not wrong- many things (such as evil itself) should be hated.
Secondly, hatred is a feeling, not an action. Fair/just/righteous action must always be taken, even when it is fitting to hate something. Every circumstance of correct hatred needs to be evaluated in its own right, to determine the appropriate course of action based on that hatred.
Overall, though, there is plenty of hatred to go around in the world! The world needs much less hatred, and much more love; so it is much better to focus on love rather than on hate.

Answer 8

Hatred is neither wrong nor right.
God himself is said to hate sin and of course god is never wrong. Oh Noooo. Hatred just is. You hate some things. Like getting stung by scorpions. You can pretend that you don't hate it, but since you do, pretending that you don't makes you a hypocrite, and it makes everyone think you are an idiot.
hate what you hate, but don't let it dominate your life, or make you choose poorly or irrationally.
For example, it is fine to hate scorpion stings, but you should not let this prevent you from adopting homeless scorpions that have not yet stung you, if it seems right for other reasons.

Answer 9

I think hatred is wrong but it is Ok to hate what represents something wrong and bad. We should still love more.
In 1 Cor 13:- there is a lot about love, but I like the part where it says..."We have three things to do to lead us toward consummation: trust steadily to God, hope unswervingly and love extravagantly."
Love has a lot of healing and rehabiliting power!

Answer 10

You know, I think that some people and actions inspire hatred. I think hatred cannot be helped, emotions being somewhat involuntary. I think acting on the hatred is wrong, letting hatred consume you is wrong. Just because someone acts hatefully, doesn't mean I have to respond in kind. Anyway, it's exhausting to hate.

I think the main thing is for people to learn self-control.