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Author | Topic: On feeling sorry for people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
robinrohan Inactive Member |
Mangy Tiger wrote this in the discussion of moderation thread
Although it may cause some intemperate reactions on both sides I think the discussion about robinrohan's comment on the old Vets he saw and the reaction it has provoked is an interesting discussion. I agree. Let's see if I can frame this issue in such a way that it is not personal. On the thread entitled "The Boasts of Atheists" I made the following comment:
A few weeks ago I went with my wife to the VA hospital locally (she was signing up for benefits). While she was filling out paperwork, I wandered around. I happened to go out this door into a sort of patio, and there I saw a lot of old men. Many of them were missing limbs. They didn't look like they had much money either. Shabbily dressed. Veterans of some war or other. It was terrible. My heart went out to them. This comment evoked a great deal of negative reaction. I was accused of all sorts of wickedness--of judging, of assuming, of being demeaning, of dehumanizing people and the like. One poster suggested I had no business feeling anything if I wasn't planning on helping these old men. To my mind, these negative comments illustrate a perversion of moral feeling created by this obsession with being politically correct Edited by robinrohan, : No reason given. Edited by robinrohan, : No reason given.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Did you stop to ask these people their story? They did not strike me as being in a talkative mood. I was most impressed by their silent, stony stoicism.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
It might have been stoicism. Or, it might have been depression. Or deafness. Or the effects of medication. So? It seemed like stoicism to me.
You wouldn't know unless you tried to speak to them. I was in their presence only for a couple of minutes. It was the vision that stuck with me. And anyway, I'm not in the habit of going around asking strangers personal questions.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
It’s fine that you noticed them. And that may have changed you. But what would it have cost to let them know that someone other than the nurse who does the daily bloods (how I hate blood tests) noticed their existence.
What a strange comment. I am being criticized for not speaking to them?
Surely even a nihilist can recognise the needs of others? Being a nihilist doesn't have anything to do with recognizing needs. It's a certain viewpoint--an imminently reasonable one, by the way--about the human condition. Edited by robinrohan, : No reason given.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Do you think Jesus shares your feelings for these people? I don't know, Brian. You're the expert on Christianity, not me.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
You claim that your "heart went out to them", yet you didn't do squat about it So? I'm being criticized for that? That's ridiculous.
You seem to use charges of PC as a shield and a defense, as do many. So far though I have not seen anyone show how anything in any of the "Nobody understands me" threads was based on being Politically Correct. If you look back at the reactions in the "Boasts of Atheists" thread, you will see a very good example of PC at work.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Well, in your limited knowledge of Christianity do you think Jesus shares your feelings for these people? Isn't that a question one asks a Christian? Why are you asking me?
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Because it is your thread.
Oh. Well, I would think that if there were such a being as Jesus, He's probably very compassionate.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Please show where in that post I criticized you? You said I didn't "do squat." That sounds like criticism to me. The tone is critical.
And still no support for anything in this or any other thread being Politically Correct, just the normal assertion If you like I can quote those negative reactions from the other thread that jumped all over me for my "dehumanizing" comment about the Veterans. That's PC-style morality.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
But unless you know the circumstances, well, you just don't know why they were the way they were. Since we were at a VA hospital, I figured these men were veterans. And I figured that the missing limbs were lost in war. This seems very reasonable to me. I also figured that they did not enjoy losing their limbs. I figured they would rather have had their limbs.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
No, it is your assertion that this is PC-style morality. Well, if you don't want to call it PC, then call it something else. Whatever it is, it's wrongheaded to call my remarks "dehumanizing."
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Attacking Robinrohan for a small bit of inaction is a good way to tear him down and make one look better saying, "I would of done it". Thanks, Neurocycle. Your remarks are extremely sensible.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
However, you have no idea why they were sitting silently.
I'm not certain, if that's what you mean. It was just my impression. I'm not a mind reader. But so what? My feelings were in no way "demeaning."
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
Next time you see a mother cling in desparation to the coffin of her dead child as they prepare to bury it in the ground don't bother having "your heart go out to her" - go over and talk to her. Listen to her anguish, row in there alongside her and try and work up the same grief that she has so you can avoid being patronising. Tell her that "time heals all wounds" and the like. Offer to contribute to the costs of the funeral. Like: do something man!
I can't tell if this is sarcastic or not.
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robinrohan Inactive Member |
You claim that your "heart went out to them", yet you didn't do squat about it. I think most people would interpret the above remark as quite critical.
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