Andy Gebhardt

Mr. Pace
English IV
Reading project essay
3 March 2020
Life After Hate-A Story of Forgiveness

There are two key emotions in the human brain: love and hate. These emotions normally

lead to some of the most impactful decisions people ever make. On August 5, 2012, an outward

expression of hate transformed the lives of many families through violence. A peace-loving

religion known as Sikhs, was attacked in a temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. In the event, six

casualties and many injuries occured because of the intentions of one misguided individual

known as Wade Michael Page. One of the victims family members, Pardeep Kaleka, wrote ​The

Gift Of Our Wounds ​along with Arno Michaelis, to voice the impacts hate can have on a

community. In the novel, Pardeep and Arno’s relationship shows the power of forgiveness and

how it is more powerful than hate.

The root of the eventual violence in the Sikh temple stemmed from a longstanding

viewpoint called the white supremacist skinheads. These groups resorted on violence to pass

along their message that white people were the superior race and the world was being taken over

by minorities. One of the authors of the book, Arno Michaelis, used to be a proponent of these

hate groups. He listened to songs with lyrics like “See over the streets, the White man’s emblem

is waving”, as a way to support his belief (71). Additionally, he beat up people that were not

white, got extremely into drugs and alcohol, and even was part of a leadership group for a racial

“Holy War” intended to purge the world of all people of color and difference from a straight,

white human. The issue with this kind of hate is the all consuming emotions that a person feels.

It drives them and causes them to forget many of the things that make them human. In
comparison to other cultures, there have been many purges of one part of society based on hate

towards the specific group such as the Jews in the Holocaust.

After being in the racist gangs for several years, Arno became tired of them and realized

the violence he had committed was a terrible act. He had a child and began to see the world

through her innocent, non-judgemental eyes. In a few years, he cut off ties with all hate groups

and even started his own organization called Life After Hate to show people that hate is not a

way to live. He began to realize, “[His] healing (...) helped to see the beauty of the world, the

beauty of all cultures and all spiritual traditions”(188). Going from a racist skinhead to a

proponent of peace was a tough change for him and the hardest part for Arno was dealing with

the person he had been earlier in life. Forgiveness did not come easy for him and it was not until

he met Pardeep Kaleka that he really understood what forgiveness was.

Pardeep Kaleka was the son of a victim in the Sikh temple shooting. His father was a

priest in the temple and was trying to save others when he himself was shot down by the

gunman. Pardeep’s relationship with Arno began by him seeking answers. The shooter had been

a member of a skinhead hate group and Pardeep needed Arno’s help to understand how anyone

could live in that kind of a hateful world. Arno stated to him that, “The people of the Sikh

temple--were considered fair game in [the] war to save [the] endangered white race”(15).

Pardeep began to understand that the hate of the shooter was a misguided idea that the white race

was in a position of minority. Wade Michael Page had been taught that other cultures were trying

to get rid of the white culture when it was the exact opposite. All cultures were simply trying to

live together as one. This idea has hardly changed today and is more diverse as many cultures

have merged together and a person can choose to be themselves wherever they are.
 Pardeep and Arno’s relationship grew to understanding of each other and how hate works

and how it can be fought against. They started another organization called Serve2Unite that was

dedicated to showing forgiveness and love to communities. Arno was able to accept who he had

been in his younger life and Pardeep never forgot, but understood and fought against the power

of hate that led to the attack on the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. Hate is a negative emotion because

of how it consumes a person and there have been many examples in history where hate has

prevailed instead of love and forgiveness. In ​The Gift Of Our Wounds, ​the question is asked how

people should respond to each other in hard times. It is easy to move towards hate, but

forgiveness is always the better answer.