Emotions that make us so-called "human" could just as easily be used to define us as "in-human".
Fear, cowardice, anxiety....all the emotions that drive our mechanism of self-preservation, can just as easily be used to point out our weaknesses and failings. How strong are we if we stand by and watch someone else suffer or die because we are too afraid to step in and help....too afraid that we might be the one suddenly suffering or....dying? Does this in fact make us weak? Does being human automatically make us guilty?
Are we just as guilty as the villain who pulled the trigger?
Is a dead hero better than a living coward?
What of the opposite attributes? What makes someone's strength, bravery, self-sacrifice outweigh their need for self-preservation? What gives someone the courage? strength? fear? to die for someone else?
Surely, on their own, those willing to sacrifice themselves for others would have just as strong a drive for self-preservation...what is it about protecting someone else that makes the urge to protect themselves less important? Where does the drive to protect come from?
They come from the same place all those other emotions come from---within our "human" self.
Whether we are guilty of standing aside or guilty of stepping in the way....we will always be guilty of one thing for sure---of being "human".
The depth of your humanity or the depth of your in-humanity is your own choice. And when you're faced with the decision of which will define you, just remember when you come to make that choice, that those standing around you are being faced with the same decision---- they will be deciding whether to stand by and watch you suffer, or to step in and suffer for you.....
Fear, cowardice, anxiety....all the emotions that drive our mechanism of self-preservation, can just as easily be used to point out our weaknesses and failings. How strong are we if we stand by and watch someone else suffer or die because we are too afraid to step in and help....too afraid that we might be the one suddenly suffering or....dying? Does this in fact make us weak? Does being human automatically make us guilty?
Are we just as guilty as the villain who pulled the trigger?
Is a dead hero better than a living coward?
What of the opposite attributes? What makes someone's strength, bravery, self-sacrifice outweigh their need for self-preservation? What gives someone the courage? strength? fear? to die for someone else?
Surely, on their own, those willing to sacrifice themselves for others would have just as strong a drive for self-preservation...what is it about protecting someone else that makes the urge to protect themselves less important? Where does the drive to protect come from?
They come from the same place all those other emotions come from---within our "human" self.
Whether we are guilty of standing aside or guilty of stepping in the way....we will always be guilty of one thing for sure---of being "human".
The depth of your humanity or the depth of your in-humanity is your own choice. And when you're faced with the decision of which will define you, just remember when you come to make that choice, that those standing around you are being faced with the same decision---- they will be deciding whether to stand by and watch you suffer, or to step in and suffer for you.....
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