It is the failure to cherish the differences in others that causes the amount of suffering that we see in our world.
Life and the lessons it teaches are both truly amazing, as long as it is without having others intentionally out to teach "their" lessons. It is Life, itself that teaches the necessary lessons, usually in the most trying of times. But, It is the severity of the circumstances surrounding a lesson that allows understanding. Not only just the realization of said lesson, or understanding as to why, but also the knowledge it contains, which is found on a multitude of levels. Events occur the way that Life needs them to, and seeking an understanding will just cause more issues to arise. Understanding comes when an individual is ready for it, and not when one is seeking it. Life will provide the answers in ways that are unfamiliar, but when the time comes for an individual, they will immediately understand the lesson.
Without the severity of the circumstances that Life places around it's lesson, understanding would not be attainable. This is why it is not for individuals to commit acts of revenge, or to intentionally interfere with others lives. Everyone is on their own path, and to intentionally cause others to encounter or experience suffering is in itself an act of evil, Life is too short and complex to intentionally be adding more suffering, and by doing so is the work of evil. Good does not intentionally cause issues or pain, no matter what. The influence of evil must be overcome within ourselves, as change comes from within. The battles between Good and Evil are only found within each of us, and can be seen on a larger scale, as it is the balance between the two that creates what we see in society as a whole.
We can only change ourselves, and to engage in activities that aim at influencing others to be more like "us", is, in actuality, the unwillingness to accept differences in others. This could result in conflict, as it could be seen as "right vs. wrong" "more right than you" or an inflated ego. Judging others' morality based on being gay or having a different belief system, is also the unwillingness to accept differences that surround us. Justifying oneself or seeking validation would be just as sinful as that is someone who murders, Those that believe that they are more important or better than others, or believe that they are "Right" and others are "Wrong" or to trying to make others have the same view, irregardless of what strategy is being utilized for said purposes, are all ways that demonstrate the unwillingness to accept differences.
It is the failure to cherish the differences in others that causes the amount of suffering that we see in our world. And only by changing our individual ways of thinking will we be able to overcome suffering. Cherish all life, not just the people, but all of Life's creatures. Realize that universal knowledge is too vast and is composed of all things. Failure to do so will ultimately have the consequence of causing the fall of civilization as we know it. As it will be our differences that not only saves us, but allows all of us to become fully aware of how amazing life truly is.
Due to the ambiguity of the term 'differences' I would also have to agree with your argument. 'Anonymous''s usage of the term 'differences' would be the following: Any trait of an individual that could be utilized for discriminatory purposes.
Perfect example as to why I feel it is necessary to be able to question written communication. Interpretation is left open to the reader, not only does this create an inherent issue to terminology and the usage of the author versus the reader, but if translation and long periods of time are introduced in to this equation, original meaning is lost.
Posted by Eric Vandenbroek, on 12/06/2009 at 14:29
I commend the message of this article but I must admit I disagree. I have no moral conflicts, the idea is righteous but I feel a world indifferent to difference is a world we will never see. My disagreement lays in the fact that although the pursuit of equality is a noble one, it is ultimately redundant and in some cases actually harmful. What I mean by this is that we must accept that all are not created equal, I will decline to produce evidence simply because of the fact I do not know where to start. Justice, treatment, opportunity, etc is anything but divided equally and this has many causes of course, broadly defined they would be economic, cultural, and political. We can argue about morality and the greater good to which we owe it to ourselves and each other to accept our differences but this is far from realistic. Sadly. What does happen though, is there are people who try their best to reconcile this gross imbalance spanning all facets of humanity, in a valiant effort, but as a result end up being taken advantage of and under appreciated. Again, we can argue over the examples of extreme good people have done but I guarantee those examples will be dwarfed by the libraries full of examples of just the opposite. What do I place my own determining factors on? Being a student on the road to med-school I have given this great thought, and I have decided that respect and value can only be drawn from actions. In my mind though medicine surpasses all else, so treatment in a medical sense I wish to provide to any and all who need it, which is yet again another naive thought. I will do my best. I accept the differences between people because there are differences, life is not fair, thats a hard pill to swallow but if we dont we are taking a lot of risks others are not.
