Why do seemingly civilized people seethe with unreasonable hatred? America wastes its time and energy to try to understand why it is hated. What does the truth mean to you?
World events have taken some bewildering turns in recent years. Stories of violence, ranging from school shootings to full-blown genocide, fill the news. And the two American-led wars to root out terrorists and establish democracy in the Middle East, values that one might assume would be universal among other democracies, have been met instead with widespread disapproval.
Pundits still debate the causes of all these events, but one recent novel explanation offered by a Frenchman deserves consideration. In his book Le Discours de la haine ("The Discourse of Hatred," not yet available in English), French intellectual iconoclast André Glucksmann posits that there is a rising spirit of hatred in the world, always lurking in the human spirit, but currently allowed to rage more openly. His observations are particularly interesting in the light of events prophesied in the Bible for the times just before us.
His opening line in the preface states his thesis: "Sometimes burning and brutal, sometimes insidious and icy, a tireless hatred haunts the world." He considers the mindless violence of terrorism that seems to define our time.
What motivated the terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center, killing 3,000 innocent people they didn't know? What motivated terrorists to bomb trains in the Atocha train station in Madrid, Spain, (which, if executed as planned, could have killed up to 10,000 people)? What motivated the terrorists in Beslan to string explosives over the heads of children and make them drink their own urine if they were thirsty?
It was a horrendous hatred let loose. The hatred that most people try to master is given full reign and embraced by the terrorist who knows no taboo.
He explains that because we don't like to believe that hatred really exists, we excuse and whitewash perpetrators of brutality and violence. "The majority, conformist thesis: hatred with a capital H doesn't exist. Anyone claiming that it does, is overlooking the true problems. Anyone claiming to 'have it'...is deluded. The hatred he feels and manifests must be reduced to exterior causes that precede it: unhappiness, unfortunate circumstances, miseries, frustrations, humiliations and offenses ... Hatred is the rotten fruit of a lack of education. Education that strives to abolish that which doesn't exist. General acquittal, unanimous hugs" (p. 11, all translations ours).
But Glucksmann maintains that hatred truly does exist, and we've all seen it.
Hatred for women, Jews and America
He believes there are three principle objects of a rising spirit of hatred: women, Jews and America.
He calls the hatred of women the "longest hatred in history" (p. 163). The fact that woman is different from man and the fear of what sexual desire can cause in society have influenced the way men have treated women through the ages. He points out how this is especially true today in the Islamic world of veiled women, effectively making them disappear. This hatred is mixed with hatred for the West.
Glucksmann sees anti-Semitic hatred rising as well. Himself Jewish, he lives in what is generally conceded to be one of the most anti-Semitic countries in Europe-France. He believes French anti-Semitism comes from three sources:
• A small portion of France's Islamic population.
• The universities and intellectuals, who side with the Palestinians, seen as downtrodden victims, and who ridiculously make a moral equation between Ariel Sharon and Adolf Hitler.
• The classic Vichyesque anti-Semitism that dates from centuries past and that motivated the government of Premier Philippe Pétain, during the German occupation of 1940-45, to collaborate willingly in the deportation to concentration camps of many thousands of French Jews.
Perhaps France's anti-Semitism has already tainted all of Europe, but anti-Semitism goes much further. "Ask yourself," Glucksmann writes, "why, alone among all the terrorism in the world, does Palestinian terrorism find grace in the judgment of world public opinion, which explains, excuses and justifies it, when public opinion doesn't applaud it?" (p. 95).
The last target of world hatred is the United States. Glucksmann believes that Americans asking themselves, "What have we done that makes people hate us?" are missing the point. He states, "The key to anti-Americanism resides in the obsessions and the preconceived ideas of the anti-Americans" (p. 122).
He illustrates his point with some of the incredible distortions that are commonly proffered by European leaders and thinkers. Extreme rightist French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen has publicly stated that George Bush is worse than Adolf Hitler. A front-page article from a French newspaper claimed that the U.S. counterterrorism policy of requiring some visitors to give an electronic fingerprint upon entering the country is a "bio-political tattoo" similar to the tattoos received by concentration camp prisoners under the Nazis (pp. 123-124).
Any action by President Bush that coincides with the desires of his accusers is studiously ignored; every false step is magnified and trumpeted.
Some Europeans are even revising the history of World War II, explaining that D-Day happened not to free anyone, but for selfish American reasons. They emphasize crimes committed by U.S. soldiers, and the Europeans killed by Allied bombardments.
The cause of this hatred is not found in any logical cause, believes Glucksmann. People have just decided that America is responsible for everything that goes wrong in the world. The hatred reinforces itself and grows over time.
Bible confirms observation and reveals more insight
Students of the Bible will not be surprised by Glucksmann's ideas. The Scriptures show that there is an anger- and hate-filled spirit being loose in the world, acting feverishly to fashion humankind into his own twisted image.
Before the creation of humankind, the brilliant archangel Lucifer conceived a hatred for his Creator and rebelled against Him. Isaiah 14:12-15 recounts details of his rebellion. Lucifer wanted to "ascend into heaven" and exalt his throne "above the stars of God." In fact, Lucifer tried to dethrone God and take His place. This insane attempt was doomed to failure, and Lucifer was hurled back "to the ground" (Ezekiel 28:12-17).
Jesus said Lucifer, whom God renamed "Satan the devil," was "a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44). The Bible further identifies Satan as a destroyer and an adversary, attempting to thwart God's plan in every way.
Satan's vicious attacks are particularly aimed at two groups of people: the physical descendants of Jacob, the Israelites, and secondly, the Church of God.
Jesus Himself was the object of senseless hatred ("without a cause," John 15:25), stirred up by Satan. Jesus foretold that believers would encounter the same hatred (Matthew 24:9; John 15:19). One reason Satan's hatred is so effective is that he works invisibly, emanating hateful attitudes . Satan is "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2).
Peter warned Christians to beware, because their "adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
Revelation shows this hatred of the Church: "And the dragon [Satan] was enraged with the woman [the Church of God], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:17).
Verse 12 indicates that this hatred increases in the end time (for more information, see our free booklets Is There Really a Devil? and Are We Living in the Time of the End? ).
God is now working on dual tracks. He is working spiritually with His Church, called from among all the nations of the earth without regard for race or national origin.
He also is working through the descendents of the physical nation of Israel-who are not only the Jews. God's promises of wealth and power to Abraham's descendants (Genesis 12:2-3; 13:15-17; 22:16-18) passed primarily to Joseph via his father, Jacob or Israel. Genesis 48:16 shows that those blessings were predominately conferred on Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. They are the ancestors of the British and American peoples of today (see our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy ).
The English-speaking nations of the world undeservedly enjoy God's blessings, and they also face impending punishments for their flagrant dismissal of God's laws. This truth is not a racist belief (though some have misused it to that end), nor does it show the moral superiority of any nation. In fact, Israel's history shows that human beings, no matter how physically blessed, are incapable of fulfilling God's will without His Holy Spirit.
God allows this for a purpose
When we understand the biblical identity of the English-speaking peoples, it should come as no surprise that Satan would stir up hatred against them, in particular against the most visible of them at this time, the United States. Satan is the malevolent spirit behind the rising hatred in the world identified by Mr. Glucksmann. The Jewish people, the only descendants of Israel to keep their identity, are also the object of an almost blind hatred by many nations in the world.
God inspired Israel on his deathbed to give his sons a prophecy of "the last days" (Genesis 49:1). Great physical blessings were promised to the descendants of Joseph (Genesis 49:22). Joseph's blessings would spill over into surrounding nations, as has been the case with America and Britain these past two centuries. But this would be accompanied by jealousy and hatred. "The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob" (verses 23-24).
Keen observers like André Glucksmann perceive the hatred. But it is only through the revelation of the Word of God that we can understand the cause. The Creator's blessing and protection has been on the descendants of Joseph, but as these nations abandon His Word as their moral guide, He withdraws protection and favor.
From their beginning, the Eternal plainly told the Israelites that obedience would bring amazing blessings, but that disobedience would bring astounding punishments, including economic catastrophe, military defeat and subjugation (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28).
Why should God deal any differently today with the descendants of those Israelites? The Bible predicts that the hatred now rising in the world will at some point overwhelm and overcome the descendants of Joseph (though God has promised always to save a remnant of these peoples), unless they turn again to the true source of their strength: "the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel"—Almighty God.
How will these coming events affect you and your family? Order our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy to find the answers in your own Bible. WNP
