Suppose you had the power...

[InvisibleTouch]

Poll question: Suppose you had the power...

...to either protect what you love OR to destroy what you hate - and the choice is mutually exclusive. That is, destroying what you hate would not automatically benefit that which you love, and if you opt for protecting what you love, that which you hate would continue to exist, unabated and unpunished.

Think of that which you love beyond all else vs. that which you hate to the core of your being. This can be people, concepts, ideals, situations, or anything else you want to plug into those two categories. What's your choice?

[itsmesgd]

1. defend what you love and nothing else matters

When you put it on the line to protect that which you love, everything else fades into the background. Negative wishes will bring you down, but positive energy will build you up and make you strong.

[ThomCat]

2. That depends.

It depends on the scope of what I can protect. If protecting what I love is defined narrowly and only protects the few people I am close to then that doesn't help very many people. On the other hand, destroying what I hate might help a whole lot of people.

So it depends on which option would do more long-term good for more people.

[InvisibleTouch]

3. That's part of what makes it a hard question.

And I can't really define the parameters any better than that. I just have to leave it up to everyone's interpretation. To some, what they love best may be one single person - and likewise, what they hate most may be one single person. Or we may be talking about entire institutions, mindsets, species even. For myself, at this exact moment, I'd have a hard time narrowing down either category, though I could probably come up with a good approximation.

From an enlightened, levelheaded viewpoint I lean toward agreeing with one of the posters above - that protective, positive intention strengthens you, and the desire to do harm weakens you. But if you're faced with a perpetrator that had deliberately and with premeditation caused uncountable agony and suffering, whether to yourself, your family, your most cherished values, or the world at large, wouldn't the urge for retribution, at that moment, outweigh every other impulse? Even if, once the heat of the moment has passed, that wouldn't be your first response at all? How, in the midst of blind and wounded fury, could one remind oneself that "creation is better than destruction"?

[ohiosmith]

4. I'd protect those physical attributes that make me a male. I'd destroy all deserts containing

Kiwi fruit.

[InvisibleTouch]

5. Ah, but you only get to choose one or the other! ;)

Choose wisely!

[ohiosmith]

7. I'll go with the Kiwi thing. God I hate Kiwi.

[Zavulon]

6. Destroy what I hate...

...because doing so would be good for everyone, instead of just for me.

[Shine]

8. LOVE, above all. Hate is destructive, in and of itself.

I strive not to hate because I believe that kind of negative energy only attracts more of it into my life.