Anger, Resentment and Hate

EDITED:

These past few days, there has been quite a bit of bitterness and hate swirling around, like whirling dervishes on the blog of DatingMaster Jerusalem. There are many reasons why such emotions surface: some come from external forces, but most of these reactions are produced from the inside of an individual, in my humble opinion.

This man on his blog was quite amazed that her had more than 400 comments to one post. In fact, he was proud of such a number. When he began reading the comments, however, most of the people, many of whom I bet are quite young, were fighting with one another, and being quite offensive to him and to others. Are such words to be truly counted as comments? Are they appropriate?

One of the greatest books ever written is Franz Kafka's The Trial. This book can be interpreted in a variety of ways, either by looking at the injustices and/or inequities of the legal system, with the focus on the outside world, or from the psychological perspective of an individual who feels so persecuted and victimized by his own life that he sets himself up for self-destruction.

Why do people react with such strong emotions such as anger, hate and resentment? There is the burning issue from the Muslims in reaction to the Dutch caricatures, which have sprung to light recently, where those feel as if something sacred to them is being tarnished, and therefore they must speak up in a matter that causes destruction. Or even take the current situation in Iraq, where you have in groups killing one another, as a reaction to the political state of affairs in that country.

For me, most anger, hate and resentment can be analyzed by looking within oneself. Usually those who have this type of knee jerk reaction have low self-esteem, feel like victims, and have grown up in an environment where fighting and hateful words is used to interact with one another. Most individuals do not know any other way to respond other than by using the language of hate and anger. When reacting in such a way, however, the object of their steamy words is more often than not taken into consideration. This is just how some people sadly react.
It is not good to take it too personally, since many of these individuals do not know any other way.

But I have a suggestion: when wanting to be angry, hateful or demeaning to one another, just do nothing. Bite one's tongue, and until kind words can surface, let the steam percolate like coffee inside of a machine, and when it is finished, just turn it off. One of the truly great gifts to obtain in this live, is a quiet mind and a peaceful heart.

On a side note: YY, the blogger from Boro Park was so kind and used to discuss the Talmud which made me feel joyful. Lately, he seems to be too busy with other things. I love talking about the Talmud, so if anyone is interested in doing so, it would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your minds.