My dear Devout,

I'd like to begin by expressing my surprise and indeed joy that you've
made an effort to string together a few sentences on the topic of
hatred. However, to the extent that you're a little off, Kee, I pray
you'll pardon me as I make a modest attempt to shed some light of my
own.

Let us begin by distinguishing between hatred and blind rage. Your
description of an emotion that "often leaves the individual incapable of
logical thought" more accurately describes the latter, which has never
been a tool of Evil. Meticulous planning and well-reasoned
decisionmaking have brought Mhaldor into the strength it enjoys today, a
power that belies its relative youth in the realms and correspondingly
smaller population. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as you've never been a
citizen of Mhaldor, wouldn't it be best to avoid making gross
oversimplifications with regards to a society you simply cannot
comprehend given your dearth of personal experience? I am likewise
unaware if you spoke with many Mhaldorian officials in the course of
your writing, but I will hazard to guess that the answer is "no".

I applaud your willingness to look beyond some of the common
misconceptions of Evil, and your statement that "strong emotions are
merely a weakness of the mortal mind and must be purged" is not as
far-off as some of your other assertions. However, one must never forget
that as mortals, strong emotions will occasionally enter into our lives
- irregardless of our religious backgrounds. The question then becomes,
"How do we approach an emotion, such as hatred, that bears this risk of
clouding our judgment?" The answer is, and always has been, to carefully
step back from the situation, put things in perspective, and consider
which of your myriad possible responses represents the strongest next
step.

Your discussion of "pity" gets at the heart of our theological
differences: how Evil and Light tend to approach the people and things
we find distasteful or wrong. For the sake of illustration, let's take
the problem of gleam addiction - an issue that every city has grappled
with in recent years. Living in a city plagued by the symptoms of gleam
addiction - poverty, decay, abandoned children - it's enough to make any
thinking person a little angry.

A bleeding heart, brimming with pity for the drug-addled wretches, might
conceivably set up treatment programs, "pillars of support" as you call
them, paid for by individuals who've chosen to eschew gleam altogether.
But does this not simply create a moral hazard, a safety net, for
individuals on the margin, those people who are the most vulnerable,
closest to beginning a gleam addiction? For in your world, an individual
can indulge his or her weakness in the comfort of knowing that the state
will be willing to carry them along once they decide to stop walking. By
coddling weakness, by sparing the rod, you encourage the very behavior
you seek to deter, and -that- my dear Kee, is why pity is not the path
of Strength.

In Mhaldor we simply kill drug addicts. The miserable creatures have
lost their purpose in life, and by burning their shivering, emaciated
husks at the stake we provide them with one: service as a warning to
others. The policy's worked. By confronting the lack of discipline
head-on, with a hateful heart, we can educate younger citizens about the
-true- risks of drug addiction, death and pain, at a fraction of the
cost that drug treatment programs entail. Indeed, for centuries the
practice of public execution has provided "teaching moments" in this
fashion, lessons that your "pitiful" society will never appreciate.

Penned by my hand on the 8th of Miraman, in the year 385 AF.