Evoked from watching "The Patriot" last evening.

[nolawitch58]

Empathy. Is that such a tough thing to harbor in our breasts? Does the ability to have empathy make us better, more human? Are people without empathy proto-monsters? Are they more willing to promote the torture of others and less interested in the common weal? As you know this is one of my pet peeves. I've bitched about it before and will bitch about it again.

In "The Patriot," Ben Martin was completely against fighting until his son Thomas was killed by the British. When it became personal to him, he deigned to get involved. This attitude has always infuriated me. How cold and shallow are those who don't care about others' suffering until it affects them or theirs?

I am a heartless, childfree bitch and even I can support prevention of child abuse and improving schools. Though my distaste for children makes me a monster in the eyes of some people, I at least possess sufficient empathy that I don't want to see them ill-fed, ill-treated or ill-educated. Is it perhaps because my world doesn't revolve around me and mini-me that I can see the larger picture? My smart friends with kids don't seem to have that tunnel vision. Perhaps only people with an abundance of intelligence get that empathy should not be a luxury. Maybe its a function of being spiritual and not dogmatic. Maybe it's a function of something else.

Comments

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

I watched "The Patriot" yesterday, too.

I think that Martin's reluctance to get tangled in the war stemmed more from what happened at Ft. Wilderness than anything. He was using his family as an excuse to bow out- not because his world revolved around his kids, but because he'd been a monster in war before. He'd inflicted incredible suffering- he knew what war was about.

Of course, I am seeing it from the veteran's point of view. The real monster of the piece was Col. Tavington- that British Dragoon. He had no empathy at all, and his actions made things worse. Martin saw and recognized a fellow monster- and realized that he had to stop him.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

I got the idea from you. :)

That too is a self-centered motivation. He knew there would be suffering, but he wanted to avoid causing it himself. The scene where he said he prayed every day to be forgiven for what he did then was all about him. When he and the two younger boys go to ambush the troops escorting Gabriel, he lets the kids off the hook later by telling them they did what he told them to do and they were blameless. Again, everything centers around him.

Sometimes, it's not about us. It should be about our ability to see beyond us. "Sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...or the one." Those callous twerps who see everything through a prism of their own experience are sad examples of humanity indeed. When a half-Vulcan is more human than they are, they need to acknowledge their evolutionary dead end and refrain from reproducing.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

Very true. I have to remember that the Path I am on is one of those 'needs of the many' sorts of things. I gave up a lot- including having a family- in order to pursue my studies and walk my Path. Sometimes when I am feeling alone- when everyone is coupled up or talking about their kids and grandkids and have their heads in the sands of family life, and don't want to pay attention to bigger things- I wonder if I am doing the right thing- if its worth it.

It is.

[saminz.livejournal.com]

An abundance of intelligence - yes!
But not only that. An abundance. Period.

People whose whole lives are dedicated to meeting basic needs will be very hard pressed to reflect on the common good. For them, empathy (outside the family circle) indeed feels like a "luxury".

On a less material level, but absolutely comparable: The child who grows up ill-treated and ill-educated will often take with hir a grudge that can hardly be consoled in adult life. For such a person, seeing others suffering even more can actually improve the quality of life...

Seeing a larger picture is a function of education, first of all. Education not only as a basic transfer of facts, but also as an encouragement to think for yourself and - most importantly - a chance to do so in an unthreatening, open-minded environment.

Luxury indeed. For most people on this sad planet, I'm afraid.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

True. Often what passes for education in this country is nothing more than indoctrination.

I hope I never feel so impoverished economically or spiritually that I cannot feel for others.

[saminz.livejournal.com]

I don't think you can lose that ability.
Once you've started seeing connections, you won't forget again, no matter how impoverished you end up.

After all, we're well past our formative years, here :-D.

[voxwoman.livejournal.com]

"The Patriot" was as true to the history it alludes to as "The Craft" was to Wicca. It's Mel Gibson, for Goddess' sake. His character is based on bits of 3 or 4 actual people who lived/fought in those times. I don't recall any locking folks in churches and setting them on fire, either. That sort of behavior was usually reserved for Jews in their synogogues in Eastern Europe, and I think closer to the 20th century.

However, the attitude you are railing against is very modern era and pervasive. Remember it took the Japanese bombing our airbases in Hawaii for us to get involved in the global conflict mid-20th century.

I haven't watched that movie since it came out, and I haven't had the desire to, either. I find reading books like "1775" much more enlightening.