21 December 2003 01:38
what is the opposite of love?Merriam Webster claims the antonym of love is "hate."
I think love is similar to temperature. you don't define cold as "the opposite of heat," rather, it's "the absence of heat." this is becuase the scientific definition of temperature is the "measure of kinetic energy in the movement of molecules" or something like that. how fast they're bouncing around. so you don't start with one end of the spectrum (-|x|) and move across zero to the other end (|x|). instead you start with 0°K where the molecules are stopped, and move "infinitely" upwards (at least until you melt).
so if we treat love similarly, you either have absolutely no love, or (infintely more likely) you have some degree of love, albeit perhaps very little. but the instant you have a little love for someone, you no longer have no love for them. likewise according to rev3.16 the instant you are a little bit against Christ, you are no longer [completely] for him.
back to my question, and where does "hate" fit in? more muddying: people use the term "love/hate relationship" all the time. when you have a bitter hatred for someone and finally manage to be rid of them, they die, you gain your vengence, whatever, suddenly your life is empty. especially if you've been hating for a long time. when you have a strong love for someone and they are gone, you still have your love. i don't know how well those statements mesh. it is hard for me to figure out, because the hating statements are from a non-christian perspective, the loving from a christian. so we still have the love because we know the beloved is in heaven.
what is the opposite of love?
because this is now four paragraphs longer than i intended it to be, i'm going to cop out. i could argue that the opposite of love is hate. and i could argue that the opposite of love is the absense of love. but i'm not sure what either argument would accomplish, so there.
01:38 email me permalink / commentary (0)
