Cases in Point
>> Thursday, August 11, 2011
When I talked about morality, I wasn't necessarily expecting extreme cases to present themselves.
When I tell myself the standards I'd like to meet, people like this fantastic young person (sadly dead now), Rachel Beckwith come to mind. She is proof enough that young people aren't all as self-absorbed as people claim, certainly not as much as the idgets in Washington.
When I say that I can't possibly pretend that I can judge some choices I've never had to face, that I can't imagine how I'd ever live through, cases like this come to mind. I've never been faced with death like this, with choosing which child to save, with having to abandon some children to have a chance to save others. I'm selfish enough I hope I never do. I couldn't judge the choices they make. How could I?
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These are sad stories, though one is inspiring. I don't think we can judge people who have starving children (because that's not really a choice they made to deliberately do wrong, like in the other post.)
I always get upset that they have so many children they can't take care of and live in a land which can't support them, food- and water-wise, but that seems to be the way of it and always has been. If people are too uneducated to know where the food grows or how to get there, then I blame their governments. Like they care.
"The poor will be with you always." —Jesus of Nazareth
Oh wow, i am with you on this one!
Our creator has an interesting sense of humor, I suppose. To create a species that often is no less visceral and self-serving than many of the least evolved animals and yet also enlightened enough to know this is not how we must be, or should be. We wage these two battles every day:
Satisfaction of our desperate desire to raise our standard of living. To achieve more "success" and find a lifestyle with ample comforts and protections from whatever brings us fear: poverty, physical harm, lack of control. To wage war against others that we may take by force what they have or to force our narrow self-comforting views on those who find acceptance of alternative views.
And the opposite battle - to accept diversity and coexist peacefully. To abandon our primeval desires and share what little we may have with those who are far worse off, no matter the consequence to our future prosperity. To risk suffering their fate that they need not suffer it alone.
The world has the resources to prevent most of its tragedies but so many of us spend our time on the wrong battle. I despise myself for being counted too often among the former group.
Mike H.