As chronically annoyed as I am, I’m still (I like to think) a compassionate person — much to the dismay of those who know me. They get pretty annoyed with my habit of seeing the other side of everyone’s situation. (I remember my father throwing down a paintbrush in frustration and yelling, “Why do you always do that?” “Because there’s another way to look at it,” I said.)
What really annoys me, though, is when people treat me like it’s easy for me. Like I was born that way. I most emphatically was not; it was both a maturity thing and a spiritual practice for me, and it took a long time to break my habits. But it was a decision on my part, not a character trait. I had to learn it, and it was hard.
I’d forgotten that most people don’t think this way until the other day, when I wrote at C&L about Pope Frank calling for an end to the death penalty and to life imprisonment. The comments section was immediately filled with people saying, “Yes, but… all child molesters should be killed!” Or all rapists, or all politicians, or whatever. It reminded me that liberal doesn’t always translate to compassion. Compassion isn’t earned — that’s what makes it compassion. If people deserved it for something they did, it just becomes a transaction. See what I mean?
Or not.
Although it’s loaded with symbols the picture doesn’t seem to be a stereogram. But back to the topics at hand. Is enlightenment baked in the genes or is it a self-imposed journey? More on that later. Speaking of ” compassion as a transaction” Bill Maher still doesn’t get it. His views are so anti-Muslim and pro-Zionist that he continues to say the most stupid things. One would expect such bigoted and narrowed minded thinking coming from a right wing ideologue, but not from a self-proclaimed liberal. If Maher were truly interested in “getting rid of all religion” he would spend as much time denouncing Judaism as he does denouncing Islam and Christianity. Clearly Maher isn’t all that enlightened, but he is well paid. Anybody can self-actualize. But most need a “teacher” to point the way. Those who don’t require direction seem to be wired differently. Whether that means that their brains are connected up differently or a gene exists within them that signals the brain to function in a different way is the question? These folks are often referred to as contrarians. Or inventors. Or artists. Or savants. Or the more violent one’s: terrorists.