Marginal Notes: Anger, Hatred and Reconciliation

As human beings, we have a need to commemorate those fellow creatures victimized by some tragic event—a war, an attempted genocide, a terrorist attack.  In some ways it does us good to ponder and reflect.  It helps us work through our collective grief—something we need to do in order to heal as a community, as a society, as a nation.

Yet there is a danger in revisiting such events ad infinitum.  That danger has to do with rekindling our anger and hatred for those who perpetrated the horrendous act.  When our collective anger flares, we relive not only the trauma of the historical event itself—it also serves to harden our hatred and prevent us from allowing ourselves to heal as a community, as a society, as a nation. >>more

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."