by David Maloy

Created on: June 22, 2008   Last Updated: May 28, 2009

I am always weary when folks dismiss compassion as a weakness. Especially in times of war. To have compassion towards a perceived enemy is seen by many as a great virtue and is the only thing really, that will bring world peace in my opinion. Hardly a force for the weak.

Compassion is the cure for one of the worst diseases afflicting mankind. That disease is of the mind and I like to call it "us and them". This disease causes people to die at the hands of others, sometimes by their own. It causes many others still to starve to death, unnoticed and uncared for, even as many cross their paths on a daily basis.

It is more than feeling "sorry" for someone. In fact, feeling sorry for someone belittles them by putting them beneath you and isn't even close to the same thing as compassion.

If you want to put yourself in someone else's position, it doesn't make sense that when you get the chance, you'd do little more than feel sorry for yourself. It's about genuine and honest helping.

There is no dishonesty in true compassion. No room for lying to spare someone's feelings. You are assuming they can't handle a truth you know so you hide it from them. This person may not need to hear the truth right then, but a lie sure as heck isn't going to do them any good. The best you can hope for with a lie is that the truth is held off for a bit. You can do that by being silent too.

When a person of compassion sees someone in pain, they see a part of themselves which is suffering, so when they help, they don't do it out of pity. They do what they can because they see a part of themselves in need of healing. They feel no more sorry for a homeless person as they would for a finger that's bleeding.

Being compassionate towards someone is to see them as you see how you could have been in their position. If you feel like you are better in any way than another individual, you aren't being compassionate towards them.

To feel sorry for someone is to play the "Us and Them" game... To have compassion is to see there is no "them" only "us". It is recognizing that like it or not, we are in this thing together and that nobody is more of a "person" than anybody else. Does that mean it's bad to be angered by someone else's actions? I don't think so.

Sometimes anger can be a motivating factor in compassion. I think we need to forgive ourselves for our anger and express it in healthy ways instead of suppressing it or unleashing it on another physically and emotionally. That's partly why we have art. We can show our anger and possibly move someone with it in an inspiring fashion rather than a fearful one.

This is where we get into the tricky subject of whether or not absolute "evil" exists. I personally don't believe in "evil" as a force unto itself. I think the problem is a lack of compassion.

I will not defend killers, rapists, child molesters and the like but to label them as "evil" says to me you think the problem is unfixable. I don't dig that attitude as it just makes things worse.

Waiting for "God" to deal with it just doesn't cut the mustard for me. We need to be properly educated. With this age of information there is just no excuse for poorly educated and unloved people. Calling them evil just makes it easier for us and allows us to pass the buck...

"They aren't one of us anyways."

Learn more about this author, David Maloy.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.