Hate

They gather together, groups of like-minded individuals, huddling in their communal dens of anger, hate, and decisive ignorance. When they speak, the inability to empathize is not there, instead the vitriol covers the fear. The bluster works, and entices their audiences, their facade repeated at them ten, a hundred, a thousand,a million fold. They see their lies accepted and encouraged, and so, they lie more; convincing themselves as they convince each other.

The stink of fear covered by a sleazier smell of the excited, the poor, the con-men, and the rapture of absolute faith, permeates their gatherings- alerting their brethren to the places of succor. Their long mental bondage to the obviously untrue has bent their thoughts to credulity. The seeds of doubt, fear, and intolerance- bred into us during times of famine, to ensure the protection of the familiar over the foreign- have been given empty words, the most conducive fertilizer. Warned to be obedient, craving to be led, they have fallen for a lie foisted upon them from without, fed by the laziness and ignorance of their forebears, and reinforced by rational, cognitive, reasoning- up to a point.

Their bonds make them stronger. They fake it, and seeing it convincingly faked on the faces, in the words, and from the deeds of their ilk, they are convinced of their own sincerity. The cycle continues, and they force their spawn into it, as they were forced, a tradition of hate, a ritual of intolerance, and a wholesale denial of objective reality. Nevermind those who leave.

Nevermind those who falter. Nevermind those who repent. They were weak. They were not the truly righteous. Each tells a story, in the popular tradition, of how- once- they too did not understand. Once, they too did not believe. Yet, the universe reveals itself, and here they stand, telling the story of how they too saw the light. It is inevitable, undeniable, and conclusively right to believe the same. Anyone who does not is suspect.

Anyone who does not is untrustworthy. Anyone who does not should be shown the light! No righteous person can deny the truth, when confronted with it! No righteous person would dare give false credence to the popular lie, the obvious hidden reality behind reality. Simply look, and it is obvious that the secret lies just behind the surface. Simply look, and it is obvious all of society secretly feels the same.

The facts support their cause. There is no other way of reasonably interpreting the information. Nevermind that the information cannot speak for itself. Pay no attention to the interpretation behind the curtain. They remind themselves of their righteousness, of their infallibility (except when perfection would be an affront). Everything reinforces, everything backs them up, everything points to the inevitability, to the futility of rebellion.

It is easier to believe. It is easier to conform. It's lonely to be alone. It's lonely to buck the trend. Their friends, their families, everyone they know believes. It is easier to accept than think. The outside is scary, cold, and hostile; and when it's not is when it's the most insidiously evil and threatening.

They huddle together, in their dens of ignorance. Each alone in their doubts, most incapable of voicing what angers them about the opposition. The lies, the facades, the fakery, it all weaves together, forming a comforting blanket of assurance. There's time enough tomorrow to think, but today it's too disheartening. Belief feels good, feels comfortable, and the opposition- the presumed oppression of their side- gives them strength of conviction.

They gather together, groups of like-minded individuals, huddling in their communal dens of anger, hate, and decisive ignorance. When they speak, the inability to empathize is not there, instead the vitriol covers the fear. The bluster works, and entices their audiences, their facade repeated at them ten, a hundred, a thousand,a million fold. They see their lies accepted and encouraged, and so, they lie more; convincing themselves as they convince each other.