Tuesday, June 22, 2004
kindness
Why on earth do people not just do what they say? Why do they say one thing and do another? What is that all about? I feel as if I have been puzzling this out for my entire life. I remember how much it confused me as a child. It seems I have tried just behaving like everyone else but that means nothing makes sense. I am giving up this strategy. I am sure things are actually much simpler.
Like being kind to eachother. People give so many reasons why they cannot be kind to this person or this group. Why bother even with the moral argument when the first thing to recognise that UNKINDNESS SIMPLY DOES NOT SEEM TO MAKE THINGS BETTER. Just stop it! Then you can spend as long as you like discussing ethics, or politics, or whatever.
But everyone seems to still permit some unkindness, as individuals and as nations. As above, so below. Often the most unseen unkindness is people's unkindness to themselves. This business really foxes me. I know, I have done enough of it.
Occasionally, people still ask me about my reasons for becoming vegetarian. They often want to give me their reasons why they would like to do it. I have given many reasons, but I see now that I find that I simply see the business of breeding animals into captivity to then kill them, cut them up and eat them, as horrible. I think that is a horrible thing to do. I believe that is an observation, not a judgement, and I want as little to do with it as possible. I would not try to stop anyone else, as I think this horrible activity is a result of something within people, so any action or evangelising is only ever addressing the symptoms, not the cause. Eof us has to work that bit out on our own. As far as I am concerned, I have. That is why I do not eat meat.
Why on earth do people not just do what they say? Why do they say one thing and do another? What is that all about? I feel as if I have been puzzling this out for my entire life. I remember how much it confused me as a child. It seems I have tried just behaving like everyone else but that means nothing makes sense. I am giving up this strategy. I am sure things are actually much simpler.
Like being kind to eachother. People give so many reasons why they cannot be kind to this person or this group. Why bother even with the moral argument when the first thing to recognise that UNKINDNESS SIMPLY DOES NOT SEEM TO MAKE THINGS BETTER. Just stop it! Then you can spend as long as you like discussing ethics, or politics, or whatever.
But everyone seems to still permit some unkindness, as individuals and as nations. As above, so below. Often the most unseen unkindness is people's unkindness to themselves. This business really foxes me. I know, I have done enough of it.
Occasionally, people still ask me about my reasons for becoming vegetarian. They often want to give me their reasons why they would like to do it. I have given many reasons, but I see now that I find that I simply see the business of breeding animals into captivity to then kill them, cut them up and eat them, as horrible. I think that is a horrible thing to do. I believe that is an observation, not a judgement, and I want as little to do with it as possible. I would not try to stop anyone else, as I think this horrible activity is a result of something within people, so any action or evangelising is only ever addressing the symptoms, not the cause. Eof us has to work that bit out on our own. As far as I am concerned, I have. That is why I do not eat meat.
