The article specifies that hatred is a poison that consumes our whole body. Hate poisons your soul and changes us as whole people. Hate not only deteriorates us but affects all the people around us. The article states “Hate is a mighty strong emotion. This mental venom can pollute your spirit, poison your soul and seep into all of the relationships that surround you” (sklare). We hurt people we never thought we would because of our clouded judgement. We learn that hate hurts us more than it hurts the others around us. If we’re harboring these undealt with emotions they drain us and tarnish our soul. The article uses this idea of us holding a hot coal and waiting to throw it at someone else, but we get burned in the end. The main idea is that we’re the one with the coal in our hands and the decision is up to us.

Hatred changes us and transforms us is to people we do not want to be. It kills and chokes all our loving qualities. There is not enough room in our hearts for both love and hate, we have to chose one or the other. We can’t live with a heart of hatred because it ultimately takes over our whole selves. If hatred was a sea we have to chose weather or not we want to grab onto a raft and try to climb out but ultimately we drown if we allow ourselves to.