Some Thoughts on Compassion

We had an interesting discussion on Marx's Communist Manifesto in class today. Several interesting points that stood out to me, but the most thought provoking discussion point came up at the end of class. Where does compassion fit into the human nature? If we are motivated solely by greed and self interest, where does the urge come from to help others? Dr. Tucker told the story of a two two-year-old children who were in a room separated by a glass wall. One of the children had access to two ropes. When one was pulled, it would deliver a treat to the child who pulled it. The other delivered a treat to the other child. The child would pull both ropes so that the other child could enjoy. The same experiment was done with two monkeys, and the monkey never chose to help the other.

This makes me think that there is something naturally in us that makes us want to help others. If that is true, then the question can be asked, "Why are there things like world poverty? Why don't we help each other more?" In my opinion, the problem comes in the fact that as we grow older, we are taught self interest more and more. When we do help others, it is sometimes only to appear charitable and generous, and not always because we just see that someone needs something that we have. Rebecca's challenge of the day: Let's all try to be a little more like children. They don't always do things for logical reasons. While it's certainly true that little children can be quite unwilling to share, sweet moments abound where children notice that they can help someone else.

The world would be a better place.

Responsibility and the Creator

We have now started reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It always takes me awhile to really get into books, so it's not my favorite yet, but I am enjoying it. One of the moral questions that it poses is: What responsibility does the creator have for their creation? If Victor Frankenstein created his monster, is he responsible for its actions?

I don't have all the answers, but here are some of my thoughts on the subject. I think that every one has to be accountable for their own actions. A child eventually has to make their own decisions without blaming their parents. However, I also believe that the child can only be held responsible for what they know and understand. If they don't know that stealing is wrong, but take something that isn't theirs, it isn't stealing because they didn't understand that it was wrong. It is only when someone learns something is wrong they can do it. Like they say, ignorance is bliss.

Any creature that can read Paradise Lost and understand it can understand that it is wrong to kill people. I therefore find it more of a cop out than anything for the creature to say that it is Frankenstein's fault that it committed murder. Passing blame doesn't make you less responsible for your own choices.

Wordsworth Enlarges My Soul

"Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
The day is come when I again repose
Under this dark sycamore, and view
These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,
Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,
Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
'Mid groves and copses."
-William Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey"

We read "Tintern Abbey" in class today, and I really, really, genuinely love it. I want to go to Tintern Abbey someday. The poem made me want to skip the rest of my classes this afternoon and go find somewhere that I could be completely alone with nature. It makes me glad for the connection that I have with nature, and for the fact that I live in an environment where nature isn't very far away. I have nothing against cities (I mean, I want to live in St. Louis at some point!), but it is a wonderful thing to look out my dorm window and see green.

I can honestly say that I am in love with nature at this point. I can also honestly say that this class is changing the way that I look at the world. Nature is all around us, but it is too easy to forget how lucky we are for that. It may only be Chadron, Nebraska, and not Tintern Abbey, but it is still beautiful!
This is how I feel right now:

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds
That rise from the lake to the trees
To laugh like the brook when it trips
And falls over stones on its way
To sing through the night
Like a lark that is learning to pray!
(The Sound of Music, title song)

Go outside today. Just go outside, look around, and that God for what He's given us. Remember, like Pocahontas sings in the Disney film, "We are all connected to each other in a circle, in a hoop that never ends." Have a fantastic day. :D