The Anatomy of Hate

Last Thursday on March 25th, UAB had the privlage to watch Mike Ramsdell's new documentary "The Anatomy of
Hate" with an after movie live debate between the UAB Free Thoughts group and Life 180. First I want to point out that
the documentary was one of the best I have seen in the past few months. The movie focused on why we hate, and what causes fear in our lives. The movie focused on domestic problems (what the general public views it as) here in the US, such as white supremacy groups and Fred Phelps, Westboro Baptist church, as well as foreign issues such as the on going war in the middle east. We were shown emic as well as edic perspectives, and the movie was put togeather in such a non-biased matter that you could truthfly see what was really at the core of the problems. The main idea that Mike Ramsdel wanted us to understand was that all of our hate, was caused by our fear: of the other, and what we think they want to do to us. Religion, politics, and culture teach us what we should hate, or love, and with these groups you begin to create seperation between yourself and those that are not like you. The movie showed us that we still need hope in order to move past these dark times, and with a better understanding of those who are different, we now know each other a little better than we did before.