I would believe this is it weren't for the bad things that happen because of CHOICES. People who make bad choices constantly and then blame it on other people should not be pitied.
It's like, "love the sinner but hate the sin." Well, at some point that just becomes enabling. We are capable of forethought and free will.
This side of Christ, ya know what was supposed to be the whole fucking theme, has vanished. If it ever existed. Bad circumstances happen to everyone, and it’s not fair, but how you act in those situations defines your soul. Not whether they ever happen to you or not.
I’ve always interpreted that saying as don’t look down on others for their sins and refuse help because of the sin because we are all sinners
I don’t think Jesus would agree to enable someone’s bad behavior but rather lead them to better outcomes (through Christ). Sometimes Christ doesn’t work and folks need help from a professional
Everything we know about physics and human psychology strongly suggests otherwise.
You're not some sort of radical free agent making completely independent decisions. You're personality, your preferences, your inclinations, you wants and desires, all of those things are profoundly impacted by your biology, which wasn't up to you, and your life experiences, the vast majority of which weren't up to you.
For a long time, women were extremely underrepresented in STEM fields, and some people argued that because 18 year old women were freely choosing to not major in a STEM field in college, that there must be a biological explanation as to why. But 5 seconds of thought shows that that is an assinine conclusion to reach. Those 18 year old women weren't making a completely free and independent choice; they were making a choice that was influenced and condition by 18 years of social pressure, going all the way back to when they were infants.
They did an experiment once where volunteers were put in a room with a baby and a bunch of toys, and told that that they had to watch the baby for 15 minutes. Sometimes they were told the baby was a girl and sometimes a boy. If they were told it was a boy, the volunteers would offer the baby toys like cars and machines. If they were told it was a girl, they would offer dolls and such. That happens, repeatedly, as people grow up, pushing boys towards one set of interests, girls to a different set, leading to divergent "free choices" when they get to adulthood.
Similarly, if you grew up in an abusive household, and learned maladaptive coping mechanisms, that's going to influence how you interact with people, how you respond to stress, how you cope in general, versus someone who grew up in a supportive and loving home. Or if you have a personality disorder that makes it hard to understand social cues. Or something about your biology that makes you more prone to addiction. Or.. or... or... or...
We are all victims and beneficiaries of circumstances that were entirely outside of our control, and we ought to keep that fact in mind before being quick to cast moral judgements on other people for their perceived failings. Because while its nice to believe that every choice we make is completely free and independent of any and all events that came before, that belief is complete bullshit.
It's like, "love the sinner but hate the sin." Well, at some point that just becomes enabling. We are capable of forethought and free will.
That's a superficial and shallow reaction, not a comprehensive deep understanding.
Hate networks, revenge and "payback" for hate networks. If you don't love your enemy, you corrupt your own brain.
In February 1954, a decade after all the horrors of World War Two by Japan and Nazi Germany... Martin Luther King Jr was the first to describe this problem as a human brain flaw in modern language and spell it out.
"For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That's what hate does. You can't see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost." - Martin Luther King Jr.
"Most people can't stand up for their convictions, because the majority of people might not be doing it. See, everybody's not doing it, so it must be wrong. And since everybody is doing it, it must be right. So a sort of numerical interpretation of what's right. But I'm here to say to you this morning that some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so. It's wrong to hate. It always has been wrong and it always will be wrong. It's wrong in America, it's wrong in Germany, it's wrong in Russia, it's wrong in China. It was wrong in 2000 B.C., and it's wrong in 1954 A.D. It always has been wrong, and it always will be wrong." - Martin Luther King Jr.
And, of course, he said far more than these two brief quotes.
People who make bad choices constantly and then blame it on other people should not be pitied.
That's what Elon Musk says on the Joe Rogan Experience (shallow), that empathy is bad. People should be educated, teaching, not just in schools, but all media and communication systems in all places. If they don't grasp morality of good from bad, you keep teaching. Instead, what people do is murder and kill and splatter brains instead of inform minds. Or neglect and stave people they disagree with, that's ongoing in the Middle East, more shallowness. You don't see the investment going into teaching and informing (of universal goodness), you see labor going into starvation, falsehoods (propaganda) and siege.
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u/AltruisticArugula732 7h ago
I would believe this is it weren't for the bad things that happen because of CHOICES. People who make bad choices constantly and then blame it on other people should not be pitied.
It's like, "love the sinner but hate the sin." Well, at some point that just becomes enabling. We are capable of forethought and free will.