At a time when political candidates are running on hate-filled platforms, hate speech is rampant, and Internet comments show the worst of it, it's time to really understand where hatred comes from.

So let's start from the beginning.

Children don't hate. Children, born with a pure mind and not yet influenced by the society around them, do not hold prejudices. They have a warm heart towards everyone they meet, and they have no preconceived negative emotions towards anyone. They aren't racist -- the color of one's skin is no more revalent to them than the color of one's hair. They aren't sexist, they aren't homophobic, they don't judge people by anything other than their character. Are they mean to me, or are they nice to me?

Hatred and prejudice don't show up in children until they are taught, by those older than them, how to hate. No one is born full of hate. We teach it, we learn it, and thus, we sustain it.

Prejudice and hatred is not inherent and it's not natural. It's taught.

It's important to realize that if you are uncomfortable with a race, a sexuality, a gender identity, or a religion, it's not because it's unnatural or inherently wrong, and it's not because it is a personal attack towards you. You are uncomfortable with it simply because you have been taught to be -- by your elders, your peers, and the media.

Patrick J. Kiger explains that "hating someone isn't a knee-jerk emotional reaction. It also involves a certain amount of reasoning."

However, what is this reasoning? As Kiger says, "Hate is sown among a group by identifying and exploiting their frustrations, insecurities, and/or fear of losing out on things they want or need."

So, hatred isn't instinctual, and the "reasoning" that leads to it is simply justifying using a specific group of people as a scapegoat for your own personal frustrations, insecurities, and fears.

This is exactly what happened with Hitler convinced the masses that the Jews were their enemy, and it's exactly what's happening today, when hate groups convince Christians that homosexuals are destroying their values, or when Trump convinces millions of Americans that immigrants and Muslims are ruining their country.

We need to recognize that these forces have poisoned our mind. They have allowed this unnatural feeling of hatred to seep in and take control. They have caused us to be blind to the fact that people of different races, cultures, sexualities, gender identities, and religions than us, are still humans, with struggles and feelings that are quite similar to our own. Perhaps once we realize this, we can take back control, and choose not to hate those who have never harmed us. For truly, we have no reason to hate. We have simply been trained to do so.

So rather than to hate, choose to love. Make love your default. For when love wins, who we are at our core wins. Our feelings of compassion, camaraderie, and understanding towards our fellow humans finally overpower the infectious hatred that has perpetuated in our kind for much too long.