the milk of human kindness....
Dec. 15th, 2001 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kuangningUntil he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.
- Albert Schweitzer
Sometimes, I wonder about where the human race as a whole is heading. More so lately because Alys' story is unfolding in my head, perhaps. The idle question William threw up for discussion ten years ago was, "what would you do, if you were God?" It's drawn me into way too many ponderances of belief and religion and morality and humanity since then: I firmly believe that we create god in our own images, in our minds. Not the Truth of God, no, the Reality isn't changed by our perception of it... but we do control our own perceptions, and thus our little realities. Anyway, that's only a side path to be wandered another day.
Today, I'm thinking about cruelty. Not just "man's inhumanity to man," but man's hypocrisy. How can anyone who claims to be a kind, decent person, willingly inflict pain on something helpless? Not for food or anything so useful, but for the sake of causing pain?
I watched one of the men at St Paul's capture a squirrel yesterday. That in itself wouldn't have been a problem... there are lots of squirrels here, red-coated for winter and fat with the generosity of people who, like me, love watching them scamper about. But, once he'd trapped the thing, he proceeded to hurt it. On the reasoning that it's only a rodent, and no-one would care.
Let me explain something, here. St Paul's clientele is a mostly rough lot. Fifteen men, currently seven women. Of those women, and probably the men also, I haven't polled them... I am the only one who has never had a drug or alcohol problem. I am one of three of the females who has never had sex in return for money or drugs. More than half the population "have a number" ... ie, are ex-convicts. More than two-thirds of us seem to have current drug and alcohol issues, despite St Paul's rules.
Still, there are certain things that are Not Done. For example, touching an unwilling woman. Although given the slight hint of encouragement, many of them seem inclined to assume willingness, once the word "no" is stated, there isn't a problem. Some few of them are even intelligent, and most are pleasant enough, if a bit on the rough side. So when that one began torturing that poor animal, I expected someone to speak up. As it was, only two of us women did. And the animal was released, with a few burn marks and bare patches in its coat, with laughter because we "girls" were so tender-hearted. Most of the rest weren't approving of what was being done, but didn't care enough one way or another to interfere.
Between people who treat animals decently but abuse their children, and people who think it's all right and amusing to mistreat something if it's only a rodent or only an insect or nobody will care... I don't know who's more repulsive. And I don't even know if feeling that way is a sign that I'm warped... is it wrong that I feel the same way about watching the squirrel be hurt as I would have if he were hurting a human infant? ... I didn't know the things were capable of the kind of sounds that one produced. *shudder.*
I told![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
galith, in a response to a comment he made awhile back, that human beings were the only animals who had been able to take the old concept of pack loyalty and expand their definition of "pack" to include something as wide as a country. But if ever I thought that we needed to expand the concept further, it's now, after that display yesterday. What happened to the old idea of stewardship? If you claim a place as the masters of a world, then that isn't just a privilege, it brings an obligation. That man is the first to declare loudly that men are worth more than animals. True that might be, but as far as I'm concerned, anyone who's capable of that sort of sadism has proven that he has less worth than a roach. And the ones who stood by and didn't object aren't much better, either.
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?
- Albert Schweitzer
Sometimes, I wonder about where the human race as a whole is heading. More so lately because Alys' story is unfolding in my head, perhaps. The idle question William threw up for discussion ten years ago was, "what would you do, if you were God?" It's drawn me into way too many ponderances of belief and religion and morality and humanity since then: I firmly believe that we create god in our own images, in our minds. Not the Truth of God, no, the Reality isn't changed by our perception of it... but we do control our own perceptions, and thus our little realities. Anyway, that's only a side path to be wandered another day.
Today, I'm thinking about cruelty. Not just "man's inhumanity to man," but man's hypocrisy. How can anyone who claims to be a kind, decent person, willingly inflict pain on something helpless? Not for food or anything so useful, but for the sake of causing pain?
I watched one of the men at St Paul's capture a squirrel yesterday. That in itself wouldn't have been a problem... there are lots of squirrels here, red-coated for winter and fat with the generosity of people who, like me, love watching them scamper about. But, once he'd trapped the thing, he proceeded to hurt it. On the reasoning that it's only a rodent, and no-one would care.
Let me explain something, here. St Paul's clientele is a mostly rough lot. Fifteen men, currently seven women. Of those women, and probably the men also, I haven't polled them... I am the only one who has never had a drug or alcohol problem. I am one of three of the females who has never had sex in return for money or drugs. More than half the population "have a number" ... ie, are ex-convicts. More than two-thirds of us seem to have current drug and alcohol issues, despite St Paul's rules.
Still, there are certain things that are Not Done. For example, touching an unwilling woman. Although given the slight hint of encouragement, many of them seem inclined to assume willingness, once the word "no" is stated, there isn't a problem. Some few of them are even intelligent, and most are pleasant enough, if a bit on the rough side. So when that one began torturing that poor animal, I expected someone to speak up. As it was, only two of us women did. And the animal was released, with a few burn marks and bare patches in its coat, with laughter because we "girls" were so tender-hearted. Most of the rest weren't approving of what was being done, but didn't care enough one way or another to interfere.
What the hell is wrong with us???
Between people who treat animals decently but abuse their children, and people who think it's all right and amusing to mistreat something if it's only a rodent or only an insect or nobody will care... I don't know who's more repulsive. And I don't even know if feeling that way is a sign that I'm warped... is it wrong that I feel the same way about watching the squirrel be hurt as I would have if he were hurting a human infant? ... I didn't know the things were capable of the kind of sounds that one produced. *shudder.*
I told
galith, in a response to a comment he made awhile back, that human beings were the only animals who had been able to take the old concept of pack loyalty and expand their definition of "pack" to include something as wide as a country. But if ever I thought that we needed to expand the concept further, it's now, after that display yesterday. What happened to the old idea of stewardship? If you claim a place as the masters of a world, then that isn't just a privilege, it brings an obligation. That man is the first to declare loudly that men are worth more than animals. True that might be, but as far as I'm concerned, anyone who's capable of that sort of sadism has proven that he has less worth than a roach. And the ones who stood by and didn't object aren't much better, either.No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?
