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When Should We Not Love?

Ringer

Ringer

Jar of Clay
The cornerstone for any religion seems to be love. That is to say, if you obey no other command, love one another. If this is true, is there ever a time when you should not love? The obvious answer seems to be no. But I can't help thinking that for those who take some scripture in the OT literally, it's hard to say that those who were ordered to kill, say, the Amalakites were acting in a loving nature. Now, I don't want to get into a debate as to why God commanded this to be done, whether God commanded it or not, or whether or not the story is historically accurate. If we assume that God did in fact do the above, does that mean that there is a time to love and a time when love is put on the back burner? On the surface, they don't appear to be loving their enemies and yet God ordered them to be killed for various reasons. Does this imply that we always love unless God commands us otherwise or can we say that this form of justice is really an act of love for reasons we can't comprehend at the time?
 
Charity

Charity

Let's go racing boys !
I think we should always love, we might not approve of some things that people do but we still should love them....We love our children but we still have to punish them when they disobey and don't follow the rules that are set. As a parent it usually hurt me to have to punish my children, and I believe that God doesn't like it when He has to punish His children, but He is a God that is true to His word.:sad:
God chastises those whom He loves.............
 
whereismynotecard

whereismynotecard

Treasure Hunter
It would probably be good to always love, because when someone makes you angry, just keep being nice and then they won't feel a need to be mean anymore, since they aren't getting the response they want from you, but acting nice and actually loving someone is two different things. So I think it's good to pretend to like people sometimes when you don't, but no matter what religion you are, I'm sure you cannot really love everyone for real.
 
Makaveli

Makaveli

Homoioi
Abandon love when it no longer suits your interests, but it is better if you abandon it and still appear to be in the right. Burn one bridge to conserve the other, more useful one.
 
Scuba Pete

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
Never abandon love.

However, anger is not the antithesis of love. I get more upset when my kids screw up than when my neighbor's kids screw up. Why? Because I LOVE my kids more! I want the very, very best for them. It's part of my passion for my kids, that they be the very best!

Just don't let your anger become HATE. Even then, you can bet that many will confuse your anger for hate. Take Shrub. I don't HATE the man. In fact, I will love it when he leaves office! :D
 
logician

logician

Well-Known Member
Ringer said:
The cornerstone for any religion seems to be love.
Click to expand...

This certainly is a debatable premise - the cornerstone of evangelical religions would seem to be gaining believers. I will not dwell on the methods they use to achieve this objective.
 
.lava

.lava

Veteran Member
Ringer said:
The cornerstone for any religion seems to be love. That is to say, if you obey no other command, love one another. If this is true, is there ever a time when you should not love? The obvious answer seems to be no. But I can't help thinking that for those who take some scripture in the OT literally, it's hard to say that those who were ordered to kill, say, the Amalakites were acting in a loving nature. Now, I don't want to get into a debate as to why God commanded this to be done, whether God commanded it or not, or whether or not the story is historically accurate. If we assume that God did in fact do the above, does that mean that there is a time to love and a time when love is put on the back burner? On the surface, they don't appear to be loving their enemies and yet God ordered them to be killed for various reasons. Does this imply that we always love unless God commands us otherwise or can we say that this form of justice is really an act of love for reasons we can't comprehend at the time?
Click to expand...

imagine dear friend...imagine you're standing in front of me and looking me in the eyes. you would have two options there. you either act in the presence of God or me. if one prefers to act in the presence of a creature, of course he would love or hate or feel anger...etc. a person who has faith in God, all those saints of God, they are/were always in the presence of God, not people. in the presence of God how could one feel hatred? if a man loves everyone that is not because of individuals, it is because he loves God without deadlines and he does not leave that presence of God for people. being in the presence of people is being apart from God. for that matter even the one you love most is your enemy. everything that is created has potential to make you forget about God. all is there to test us. yet it is up to us to make them our enemies or not.


.
 
autonomous1one1

autonomous1one1

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Ringer said:
When Should We Not Love? The cornerstone for any religion seems to be love. .....
Click to expand...
Greetings Ringer. Love, of course, can mean many things to different people. If you will permit me to address 'agape' type of love, one description of it is universal, unconditional unity with a person that aims for fulfillment of the other. It is possible and comes about from realization of union with God, which at the same moment is realization of union with all 'others.' Once realized there is no circumstance for which it would not be a principle of being.
 
Riverwolf

Riverwolf

Amateur Rambler / Proud Ergi
Premium Member
whereismynotecard said:
It would probably be good to always love, because when someone makes you angry, just keep being nice and then they won't feel a need to be mean anymore, since they aren't getting the response they want from you, but acting nice and actually loving someone is two different things. So I think it's good to pretend to like people sometimes when you don't, but no matter what religion you are, I'm sure you cannot really love everyone for real.
Click to expand...

Well, for other people, pretense might help, but what about for yourself? Isn't anger self-destructive? Isn't the point of loving unconditionally meant to help us attain internal peace for ourselves?

I believe that love should never, ever stop. Hate is self-destructive, because it feeds itself; therefore if you decide to hate something "just a little" then if left unchecked (which it likely will because we have too much to do in this era to be bothered with self-therapy, and foolish pride stops people from seeking such help), it will grow and become extreme hatred, which could lead to irrational thoughts and actions. (FYI, extreme love can lead to the same thing... can you say Anakin Skywalker?) Therefore love should not end, should be inexhaustible, but regulated so that it does not cloud judgment and rational thought. (those who feel that hate is not self-destructive should use the same rational for it)

Unconditional love should be separate from religion, and applied simply to practical life and survival. That's what I think, anyway.
 
M

mohammed_beiruti

Active Member
Ringer said:
The cornerstone for any religion seems to be love.
Click to expand...

No! the cornerstone in Islam is to avoid God's displeasure in every single deed in your life and even in your conscience.

listen carefully, even prophet david peace be upon him killed Goliath, not because he want to revenge and not because he hate Goliath, he just obayed God's orders

[2:251]. By God's will they routed them; and David slew Goliath; and God gave him power and wisdom and taught him whatever (else) He willed. And did not God Check one set of people by means of another, the earth would indeed be full of mischief: But God is full of bounty to all the worlds.
 
Worshipper

Worshipper

Active Member
Ecclesiastes 3:8 - "A time to love, and a time to hate"

So maybe there are times we shouldn't love. When we're as wise as Solomon, we'll probably know those times, too! :D

But killing people doesn't mean you don't love them. If God told me to kill the Amalakites, then that means He wants them dead. And since He only wants the best for His children, being dead must be the best thing for the Amalakites right now. And if I love them, I will want to help them get the best. So if God tells me to kill the Amalakites, not killing them would actually be the hate.

I'm inclined to believe Solomon wasn't literally talking about hate, and that really we should always love. But maybe that's the softie, liberalized, modern man in me talking.
 
Riverwolf

Riverwolf

Amateur Rambler / Proud Ergi
Premium Member
Worshipper said:
Ecclesiastes 3:8 - "A time to love, and a time to hate"

So maybe there are times we shouldn't love. When we're as wise as Solomon, we'll probably know those times, too! :D

But killing people doesn't mean you don't love them. If God told me to kill the Amalakites, then that means He wants them dead. And since He only wants the best for His children, being dead must be the best thing for the Amalakites right now. And if I love them, I will want to help them get the best. So if God tells me to kill the Amalakites, not killing them would actually be the hate.

I'm inclined to believe Solomon wasn't literally talking about hate, and that really we should always love. But maybe that's the softie, liberalized, modern man in me talking.
Click to expand...

I read Ecclesiastes last night. I got the feeling that most of it was just him grumbling about how things were useless, except things that had to do with God. I think that "There is a time for..." part was him reflecting on the state of things at that moment. It's a pretty pessimistic book to say the least, at least on first readings.

Though personally, if God ordered me to kill someone, I'd not do it, out of love for my own race. But I would not hate God for telling me to do something I disagree with, any more than I'd hate a drug-dealer. But I'll say nothing more, as the Amalakites thing is for other threads.
 
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