it's truly amazing to me how people who seem to be really cool people, people of substance, people with passion and vision, can so easily dispense with their principles whenever and wherever their self-interest is concerned. it's like any semblance of integrity that they had is so easily sacrificed in the path of their own self-promotion... which begs the question: what is there left to protect or promote if you don't have anything you stand by?
i'm frightened. frightened that this is so rampant, frightened that i'll be dealing with it for the rest of my life, and frightened that i might one day turn into one of those people, if presented with the right circumstances. i shudder to think that one day -- at school, in the office, wherever -- i could find myself in that strange position where everything i do and say is colored by how i think people will perceive me and how that will affect my chances of getting what it is what it is that i want. i can just see it now: carefully crafting my social interactions, maneuvering through every conversation, playing to people's interpersonal politics, being disingenous, subversive, and dishonest -- all with the self-interested end in sight, all the while rationalizing to myself (and others, if necessary) that i'm not technically breaking any rules and i'm within my rights.
what will i then have become? what "self" will be left to be interested in? i'll have become an undifferentiated, amorphous form with no structure, substance, or unifying principle. much like kierkegaard's aesthetic man, my life would ultimately be meaningless.
i will hope, pray, and strive to never become that person. in the meantime, i think i'll be sufficiently busy trying to figure out (1) how next time around, i can avoid being the victim of other people's dispensable ethics... (2) how i can learn to expect nothing of people so i'm not disappointed as often, without turning into a total pessimist, and (3) how i can avoid feeling so defeated by the fact that people can so quickly, easily, and tangibly create injustice.
Posted by naseem at April 9, 2006 09:34 PMYou're right, that was cryptic. But I understand. We'll talk about it.
Posted by: george at April 10, 2006 07:57 AMI could not have said it better myself. I remeber when I first realized that politics is almost everywhere ... sometimes especially in places it is not suppose to be! And some people are self-intrested even when they are suppose to be intrested in Justice and Service. This was the lesson of my twenties. The only thing I can do is try to act by my personal principles and have no hope that others will! But,according to the Master there is a hitch! We tend to assign to others what we are ourselves and see in others actions our own motivation. When we look at others often/sometimes we are looking in the mirror in some way or another....so in this context it is always important to give people the benefit of the doubt, as much as possible! These thoughts even make the balance more percarious!
Posted by: Artemis at April 10, 2006 08:19 PMSince declaring I have found that conditioning should not govern our behavior. The early Bahais especially the Dawn Breakers sacrificed their lives for their ethics and morals. A person who changes due to conditioning never had a moral system to begin with and therefore one should not judge them.
What you see so clearly is also because it is inherent in you, though you may not have acted on it.
tem and shawn,
i think you both raise an important point: we all have the potential to become what we do not like in others. that's why i chose to frame the issue in terms of using my own awareness, vigilance, and self-discipline to make sure that i do not become what i believe is unwholesome. we all have weaknesses, and we are all tested. so, to me, compassion and empathy for others are as, if not more, important than working on myself.
Posted by: nas at April 16, 2006 12:57 PMI think that you are one of the most morally upright people I have ever met. But,of course, we can all see the corruption around us becuase the body of a human being is close to the body of an animal, it's all about the lower nature. But,the strength of our soul is what dictates if the animal part will win in the battle, moment by moment. I don't agree with Shawn,although I do think that his opinion is fine too. This is becuase I find no proof in the writting to suggest that a person who falls never had morals. Instead that the person who falls could have been very convicted but their soul could have been weak at the time. That is the reason that we MUST say daily prayers/writtings and center ourselves towrds God. Of course, the person who makes the comprimised choice can also redeem themselves through knowlege, wisdom and goodness later. But, I have found this to be more than RARE. Usually when even a moral perosn makes a very comprimising choice it is the begining of their downfall! This is not an inherent having or not having though. And of course we can see the corruption in others becuase every human beinghas the ability to be as the quote about children says the light world or it's darkness(and the decsion can theorically change over your lifetime)! I was just pointing out about Abdul-Baha becuase it helps me to realize not to judge others for preceived inmorallity...becuase what I may be seeing is only a refelction of what I may personally be capable of. But in another twist, I also beleive that this is why humaility opens the Crimes Against Humility Court becuase injustice causes disgust to the righous and the reason is that they know that every human is capable of injustice if left wihtout punishment. So, I am not in anyway saying that we totally should not juge injustice and immorality, becuase we could be capable of it ourselves. This is in fact the best reson for society to judge it. This is why punishment and reward are God's imovable pillars!
Posted by: artemis at April 17, 2006 12:58 PM