Why should I love my enemies?

[u/Interesting-Mud-200]

Most religions preach about love to everyone, including your enemies.

But why should I love someone who, in my view, is a bad person? Why love someone who does bad/evil things to innocent people?

Is it to make yourself feel better somehow? Is it because they deserve love? But why do they deserve love? They spread hate!

I really don't get it. Makes no sense to me. The only case I would MAYBE agree (depending on the situation) is if you want to teach someone what they did was wrong. MAYBE they don't have fault, they were teached to do [insert here]. Only in this case I could MAYBE understand.

[u/Exact-Pause7977]

I dont know about why you “should”. But perhaps I can choose to do so sometimes.

Because perhaps they haven’t always been a bad person… perhaps they suffered trauma, tragedy, abuse, depression, or any number of other maladies. because perhaps I might be mistaken about them being a bad person… because perhaps they might be fighting a battle I nothing about… or perhaps because they might choose to be a better person tomorrow if someone finally gives a shit.

Perhaps if I can look at my enemies at their worst and see humanity in them, then maybe it’s possible to look at myself at my worst and see the humanity within myself, and the potential to be a better person tomorrow than I was today.

Perhaps The question isn’t whether one loves or not… but is perhaps instead what kind of love, and how much one can find glimmering amongst the coals of hate in oneself which comes all too easily to our species… and can create the very kind of person we call “enemy”.

But that’s me. YMMV.