I do not hate Saddam

I do not hate Saddam Hussein. Why should I?

Sounds shocking!! But it is true. I am neither a supporter of the terror that he unleashed nor of the terror that Bush is forcing Iraq into. Both are condemnable. Saddam had to be stopped and has been. Bush is yet to be stopped. Hope he too will be.

But why do I not hate Saddam? Simple. I did not love him. One cannot hate someone that one does not love.

Hate and love are traits of the mind, the mind that feels, not of the intellect that analyses and judges. On the intellectual level, I clearly understand that Saddam perpetrated crime and deserved the death penalty he got. But since he does not relate to me in any way, I neither loved him and hence neither do I hate him now.

So next time, do not say you hate Bush (or anyone for that matter) unless he interferes in your own life. His acts may be and should be condemned, protested against, driven by the intellectual judgment that his acts are bad. But he does not even deserve to be hated by your heart since he means nothing to you.

And next time when you think you feel hatred towards someone, realise first that you do love him or her. Tell them too that you hate them (for the moment) coz you take rights on them due to the love you have for them.

Let actions be driven by the intellect, though motivated by the heart.