In den unendlichen Weiten des W3 bin ich auf einen interessanten Leserbrief an die Moderatorin einer Radiostation gestossen. Es geht dabei darum, dass heutzutage die Begriffe "Liebe" und "Hass" nach Meinung des Schreibers leichtfertig gebraucht werden. Für alle, die der englischen Sprache mächtig sind:

On yesterday’s show you took some time to discuss the use and overuse of the word “hate” in today’s society. You were reacting to the comments you often hear that people “either love you or they hate you.” Though I agree with you about the misuse of the word “hate,” I think you missed something in your comments. You see, though I enjoy your show and appreciate your efforts to help people direct their lives in a more responsible and positive way, I do not “love” you. I don’t even know you. I reserve love for my wife, my children, my parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, and maybe for a few others that are close to me and have touched my life in an important and meaningful way. I like your show, I enjoy your show, and if I ever met you I might even like you – but I can’t say I’d “love” you.

I believe the casual use of the word “love” can be just as damaging as the casual use of the word “hate.” This is what allows children to grow up with a serious misunderstanding of what love is and then move into their teens to start relationships and immediately believe they love the other person in the relationship. You’ll often hear a teenager use the argument that it’s okay to have sex with someone if you “really love them,” yet they don’t have any idea what love really is. The girl in the relationship then ends up pregnant and alone, trying to make the decision between abortion or adoption still without knowing what love is. Young people then enter into marriage believing they love their spouse, but end up divorced a couple years later, realizing that the marriage wasn’t right and that they really didn’t love their spouse. The word love is commonly used to describe something a person “really, really likes,” like a pizza, but really, really liking your spouse will rarely push people through the difficult obstacles that come up in marriage and raising children.

So as important as it is to avoid improper use of the word “hate,” I think we must be just as careful to avoid applying the word “love” to those people or things we merely like.