Stop the hate

Once again we learn of an atrocity committed in a major city, this time London, where the very seat of UK democracy was attacked. At time of writing, four people lost their lives and nearly thirty have been injured.

A police officer was killed while doing his job in protecting the public and Parliament from harm. A man who went to work that day and wouldn’t come back due to the actions of a motivated terrorist. I call him that, despite not being confirmed, as this is an act of terror in every sense.

My thoughts are with the families of those who were killed and injured.

At times like this, it feels like an assault on the senses and certainly hits my mood rather hard. What hits my mood further is watching the reaction of those online who immediately jump on the offensive and attack groups before we even know who the hell committed the atrocity and the motivation.

Send them back, bring back hanging, shoot them all, ban religion, ban religious clothing, even a picture of a woman in headdress walking past a victim being helped by others was attacked online. We don’t know the circumstances, yet some are happy to let their own prejudices and hatred vent, unaware of the irony and contradiction in their posts.

I am sickened by the attacks and it’s compounded by the sheer hatred displayed by folks who think hate will counter hate, will somehow make it all go away. It has had an effect on me which has pulled me downwards into the spiral, my mood sinking fast.

I still tend to believe there are more people in the world with good intent but unfortunately, there are a lot of stupid people who are unable to work out the simplest of things: hate breeds hate. Give out hate, you get hate back and you give it back in spades, so it multiplies each time in a negative spiral.

Enough is enough. We can stop it.

If a person has hatred in them, it eats them up and others around. Some use it to commit significant acts, such as those yesterday. Some go online and talk to friends to spread more hate, which then makes it part of a much bigger problem.

Time for us all to calmly reflect what sort of society we’d like to live in and how we’d like to achieve that. Be the change we want to see and live it, spreading positive messages, stop seeing differences in others as something to despise. Start to spread more positivity and inclusion rather than divide, retract, hate, which has been the political narrative over the past few years.

Time to demand our politicians stop making the world less safe and more divided by their actions. Demand they start to lead with politics of inclusion and good for all. Demand they put an end to divide and rule politics as this is fueling hate in sections of society.

Let’s start being human again and remove fear.