Here's Where the Hate Starts

As the public debate sinks deeper into the gutter, many of us wonder where all this hate comes from. Well, here's one clue: the agenda of the Value Voters Summit going on in Washington, D.C. this weekend.

Some session titles:

• TRUE TOLERANCE: COUNTERING THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
• THE THREAT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
• OBAMACARE: RATIONING YOUR LIFE AWAY
• MARRIAGE: WHY IT'S WORTH DEFENDING AND HOW REDEFINING IT THREATENS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
• GLOBAL WARMING HYSTERIA: THE NEW FACE OF THE "PRO-DEATH" AGENDA
• THUGOCRACY - FIGHTING THE VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY -
• DEFUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD
• FAITH, POLITICS, AND THE INTERNET: HOW TO CONTEND FOR TRUTH IN A DIGITAL AGE

Compare these with the agenda items for the Netroots Nation meeting in Pittsburgh last month.

I can't get this song from the musical South Pacific out of my mind:

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!