Page 197 - 1970S

April-May, 1970
"Oh, Was That YOU
Screaming?"
(Contin11ed from page 8)
criminal attitude of inhumanity - of
callous stupidity and non-ínvolvement
in the face of the most piteous human
needs.
Why? What's behind the "1'11 get
mine - l'm concerned about me" atti–
tude so plentifully evidenced today?
Was it always like this? To be sure,
there have been sufficient histories of
man's inhumanity to fellowman cata–
logued down through the centuries -
from ancient Egypt to present-day
America - to recognize t hat such
incredible self-seeking is not limited to
any one nation, or any one race. It is a
h~trnan sickness.
The causes are fairly simple to
understand, once we are willing to face
squarely the infl.uences shaping our
attitudes - determining our conduct.
The Sickness of Affluen ce
There are two human extremes which
can produce a don't-care kind of non–
involvement in the suffer ing of others.
One is a common disaster, a plight
striking whole societies simultaneously.
Starving peoples in India, Africa, Cen–
tral or South Amer ica are clear evidence
to support this obvious conclusion.
When masses of humans share the
same inhuman suffering - rarely does
one see self-sacritice, humanitarian
instincts, or man helping fellowman .
Perhaps the most extreme cases carne
out of prisons, concentration camps and
death factories during World War II.
Not all prisoners lost their humanity, to
be sure - but many did. When sheer
personal survival is at stake, afflicted
humans have líttle time or energy for
concern over the sufferings of another,
caught up in a common disaster.
Documented cases of the most bestial
kind of mistreatment, even among fel–
low prisoners, are a matter of record .
History points to the most grisly and
sickening extremes of such inhumane
desperation - even to the point of can–
nibalism, and that on occas ion among
friends, or even family. Conversely, that
same common disaster can briog forth
the most outstanding cases of personal
Tbe PLAIN TRUTH
sacrifice and heroism on record - such
as one human g ladly laying down his
life to spare another - though tbese
are once-in-a-while occasions, and not
the average behavior.
Common disaster is one extreme
human condition which can produce a
determined kind of personal behavior
which ignores the suffer ing of fellow–
man.
Aoother is the exact opposite of pov–
crty or disaster. l t's the extreme of too
much.
The disease of affiuence - the fat,
overfed, flahllent, opulent, self -satisfied,
comfortably entertained, spoiled, glossy
and pampered people of plenty - this
sickness, too, can result in the most oau–
seating kinds of inhumanity.
W e, in the Western, English- speaking
nations of the good earth are seeing
the symptoms of a dread disease all
around us. The disease has dozens of
symptoms - all of which inspi re
feverish attempts at removal of the
symptoms, therefore attempting to treat
the effcct of the basic disease, rather than
root out tbe ca11se.
The disease is simply too m11ch. Too
mnch of everything - too much leisure,
entertainment; too much material wealth
and too much envy, greed aod hatred
spawned because of it.
Concern for Self
Let's face it - we're spoiled. We
simply don't care anymore. We rarely
tind a person who truly care.r about
what happens to other people. Oh, sure,
there are always the tears of outrage or
futility when seeing sorne particularly
nauseating view of human suffering,
like the thousands of little emaciated
children, with their grotesque, swollen
stomachs the testimony to their ad–
vanced stage of starvation - but let's
face it, these are not the problems that
really excite people.
But racial, social, economic injustices
- any cause, it seems, which succeeds in
involving itself with ME, and with MY
environment - with what happens to
ME, these are the problems that excite
people. The cry ís "Yeah, but what
about ME?" today, with very l ittle
obvious concern for the other fellow.
None of this is to say the social injustices
( where they are real ) are good, or that
39
they should remain. It is to say, rather,
that we have a very obvious lack of
proper priority r
Self is the dominat ing force in each
human being. Self-seeking-concern for
the immediate person - is the strongest
natural mot ivation. Only a truly ma–
ture, deeply concerned and enlightened
humanitarian can rise above self, and
become at least AS concerned about fel–
lowman as self. Even Jesus knew it is
utterly impossible for humans to !ove
others MORE tban self, and so com–
manded man to love his neighbor "AS
himself." Let's admit that's loving your
neighbor (and Jesus defined 'neighbor'
as any fellow human of whatever race
or nation) a great deal !
It would be a wonderful world if
humans really did love each other AS
themselves. But there exist no laws to
fotce one man to so love another human
being. At least, there are no generally
recognized laws which carry harsh
penalties for denying help to a victim
of a crime, even though we may feel
there should be.
A man may appear a coward to his
friends for haviog drawn back f rom
helping rescue a drowning person. A
relative may be censured by the fami ly
for having slammed the door in the face
of a terribly injured neighbor - but
there are no possible coosequences
under the law, unless, in sorne extreme
case, a bereaved Joved one attempted to
bring suit resulting from sorne obvious
neglect of the most basic human actions
- alleging criminal intent to abet bod–
ily harm.
And yet, there are such laws -
whether we recognize them or not.
Obviously, the people blithely going
their way on a "Palm Sunday" were no
more active, pr(tcticing Christ ians than,
say, a defrocked monk calling on the
gods of chance for a seven in a Aoating
crap garue!
We can all indignantly censure them.
Aod we can all wonder whether we,
seeing the same unconscious and injured
man, would have been quick to stop,
quick to offer aid.
Laws for Human Conduct
There are laws which carry penalties,
bel[eve it or not, for infraction - laws