Thought for today:
"If it be our desire to administer mercy to those in greatest need, our task should be to constantly enlarge our circle of care in a world of concern and compassion. We are all creatures who are supposed to be able to live alongside each other peaceably.
All living things need warmth on cold nights, food to eat and companionship to share. It is mankind's duty to look after the visitor who sleeps upon his land while looking for a better life. Neither man nor creature was ever meant to strive for basic survival or stray too far from civilisation and the understanding of their own kind. It is only when we free ourselves from the shackles of possession and ownership that we are able to inherit the goodness we were born with to dispense in equal measure.
In many ways, the strays of the animal kingdom are no less significant or more important than the exodus of wandering man. Why then do we treat humans differently to animals in the degree of compassion we give out to them? I very much suspect it is because we are more prepared to look into the eyes of a suffering animal who has strayed from the safety of a good home and see the nature of the want which stares back at us.
Show society a suffering human stray in identical circumstances however, and the human tendency is to look away and quickly walk on by. How are we able to do this when their need is just as great as the stray dog and their prospect of receiving stranger help far less likely?
The only possible explanation is that somewhere along the road of 'progress,' mankind developed the capacity to unharness his humanity, suspend his critical faculties, abandon his capacity to care for his fellow being, harden his heart to their suffering, deafen his ears to their cries of anguish and pain and learned to close his eyes to the uglier consequences of allowing life to pass by and doing nothing.
In his defence, mankind often holds up their compassion for the dumb animal as their evidence for being a caring human being and a kind person. It is however, self delusional to accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are indeed 'wonderful.'
If you don't believe me, starve your pet for one week and then allow the horrible neighbour across the road (who was just released from a twenty-five year prison sentence for murdering three innocent children, their parents and 94 year old grandmother), to place a piece of juicy meat on his front lawn and watch your faithful breed stray towards survival.
At the end of the day, even a dumb creature will do what is necessary and seems more natural to survive. Why not then, one endowed with a human brain?" William Forde: June 15th, 2016.
"If it be our desire to administer mercy to those in greatest need, our task should be to constantly enlarge our circle of care in a world of concern and compassion. We are all creatures who are supposed to be able to live alongside each other peaceably.
All living things need warmth on cold nights, food to eat and companionship to share. It is mankind's duty to look after the visitor who sleeps upon his land while looking for a better life. Neither man nor creature was ever meant to strive for basic survival or stray too far from civilisation and the understanding of their own kind. It is only when we free ourselves from the shackles of possession and ownership that we are able to inherit the goodness we were born with to dispense in equal measure.
In many ways, the strays of the animal kingdom are no less significant or more important than the exodus of wandering man. Why then do we treat humans differently to animals in the degree of compassion we give out to them? I very much suspect it is because we are more prepared to look into the eyes of a suffering animal who has strayed from the safety of a good home and see the nature of the want which stares back at us.
Show society a suffering human stray in identical circumstances however, and the human tendency is to look away and quickly walk on by. How are we able to do this when their need is just as great as the stray dog and their prospect of receiving stranger help far less likely?
The only possible explanation is that somewhere along the road of 'progress,' mankind developed the capacity to unharness his humanity, suspend his critical faculties, abandon his capacity to care for his fellow being, harden his heart to their suffering, deafen his ears to their cries of anguish and pain and learned to close his eyes to the uglier consequences of allowing life to pass by and doing nothing.
In his defence, mankind often holds up their compassion for the dumb animal as their evidence for being a caring human being and a kind person. It is however, self delusional to accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are indeed 'wonderful.'
If you don't believe me, starve your pet for one week and then allow the horrible neighbour across the road (who was just released from a twenty-five year prison sentence for murdering three innocent children, their parents and 94 year old grandmother), to place a piece of juicy meat on his front lawn and watch your faithful breed stray towards survival.
At the end of the day, even a dumb creature will do what is necessary and seems more natural to survive. Why not then, one endowed with a human brain?" William Forde: June 15th, 2016.
