Imaginary Landscape: A Modern Fairy Tale
My father and step-mother's story.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
It's a Human Thing
Why do people go out of their way to hurt others?
Is it an animal trait that we have? I don't think I have ever seen an animal kill another or hurt another just for the sport of it.
It is not something the Bible teaches or any other religion for that matter.
So is it then something that we as humans have come up with as a way of keeping others down so that we appear to be dominant or superior?
I think that the latter is the most sound theory. People, like animals, lash out when they are under pressure, and for many of us that lashing out comes in the form of hurtful words. Our society is based on language as a method of conveying information, so logically that would be our most familiar and useful weapon. The teachings of Jesus Christ as well as Buddha and Muhammad tell us to love and treat others as we would expect them to do for us. Yet, so many Christians ( I do not know many people of different religions so I can not speak for them) feel intrigued to hurt others through the use of words, and they are very comfortable doing so. It angers me that these people have the audacity to call themselves a member and a follower of these sacred beliefs and yet feel comfortable enough to disobey their golden rule.
I am not a saint at all, and I admit to not always following the teachings of the God I believe in, but when someone goes out of their way to say something that is intentionally hurtful to someone else without being provoked I just do not understand it. I guess it is the product of a culture that values the person who goes one step ahead and scorns the person who gets left behind. It is a culture that condones gossip, ruthlessness, and sin as the means to achieve one's goals. It is a culture that enjoys watching shows about conspiracy, treachery, and lies. So is it really an wonder that many people of this culture use these same tactics themselves? Even casually?
From a sociology standpoint, I guess that we are what our surroundings and culture are.
In conclusion, "It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered."-Aeschylus
& "In our appetite for gossip, we tend to gobble down everything before us, only to find, too late, That it is our ideals we have consumed, and we have not been enlarged by the feasts but only diminished."-Pico Iyer
Just a couple of things to think about.
Is it an animal trait that we have? I don't think I have ever seen an animal kill another or hurt another just for the sport of it.
It is not something the Bible teaches or any other religion for that matter.
So is it then something that we as humans have come up with as a way of keeping others down so that we appear to be dominant or superior?
I think that the latter is the most sound theory. People, like animals, lash out when they are under pressure, and for many of us that lashing out comes in the form of hurtful words. Our society is based on language as a method of conveying information, so logically that would be our most familiar and useful weapon. The teachings of Jesus Christ as well as Buddha and Muhammad tell us to love and treat others as we would expect them to do for us. Yet, so many Christians ( I do not know many people of different religions so I can not speak for them) feel intrigued to hurt others through the use of words, and they are very comfortable doing so. It angers me that these people have the audacity to call themselves a member and a follower of these sacred beliefs and yet feel comfortable enough to disobey their golden rule.
I am not a saint at all, and I admit to not always following the teachings of the God I believe in, but when someone goes out of their way to say something that is intentionally hurtful to someone else without being provoked I just do not understand it. I guess it is the product of a culture that values the person who goes one step ahead and scorns the person who gets left behind. It is a culture that condones gossip, ruthlessness, and sin as the means to achieve one's goals. It is a culture that enjoys watching shows about conspiracy, treachery, and lies. So is it really an wonder that many people of this culture use these same tactics themselves? Even casually?
From a sociology standpoint, I guess that we are what our surroundings and culture are.
In conclusion, "It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered."-Aeschylus
& "In our appetite for gossip, we tend to gobble down everything before us, only to find, too late, That it is our ideals we have consumed, and we have not been enlarged by the feasts but only diminished."-Pico Iyer
Just a couple of things to think about.
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