The events of late have shaken my already-weakened faith in the world. For the longest time, I've held the somewhat naive but hopeful belief that most humans are mostly good and never seriously considered that there might be true evil in the world. Sure, there are characters in novels and operas, but even they deserve some sympathy--not to mention that I've always considered it a great depth in the arts where heroes and villains are multifaceted and therefore real human beings.
...And isn't art a mirror to nature?
Evil, as it turns out, is not so easy to define. To an ever-optimistic person, evil is akin to a tragic flaw and not at all a despicable quality. --Oh but Optimism is quite mistaken! There actually exist people who are completely devoid of any ethics common to the rest of the species, and who have never felt shame in lying and manipulating others solely for their own material gain.
I had the misfortune of dealing with at least two of these rotten apples so far in my life and have recently been almost irreparably disillusioned. Even for a time before this, I had been feeling the creeping darkness of the world closing in on me and grinding me down, but I fought to stay true to who I am.
I am a self-proclaimed Humanist.
I do not believe in God, the Afterlife, or any of the associated supernatural concepts.
I have faith in Man and Nature.
I trust that, even though today we may not be the best we can be, we are always striving to be better the next day, and the next one after that.
I vow that to understand others and to forgive them are the most important things I can do for others.
--But wait: what of all that? How many people actually think like that? Will that population be self-sufficient, or will they eventually be infected by the rest of the evil zombies? Bad people get away with so much, while good people pay the price by supporting those bums and still having to lock their doors at night. If you help others once, they will shamelessly expect you to give them allowances again next time; and if you fail to deliver, you will have lost more than what little good faith you had before the first act of kindness. How backward is that? How can the human race progress when the overall principle is a zero-sum game and every dirty trick is allowed and even rewarded?
What, then, can the few good people do? There is certainly no place to seek (this-worldly) justice. There wouldn't even be a place to complain if good people didn't have some sort of support network. But here's the real kick in the crotch: There shouldn't be retribution, because, as the saying goes, if we stoop to their level, blah, blah, blah....
Luckily, my hope hasn't been completely obliterated: as soon as the Hollywood writers are back to work I will have the wisdom of Grey's Anatomy on my side.
And all you bad people out there (you know who you are)...
...Go to Hell.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment