The cross of compassion

[Spiderman]

I find there is more suffering now that God has given me compassion. As a kid I was a sociopath that even went so low as to dismember small animals.

Through prayer I became deeply compassionate. Realizing other people and animals have feelings brought about more suffering. As a kid I seriously believed other people weren't human beings that had feelings. Now I realize that sex-slave of ISIS is an actual person with feelings that lives a life of torture , fear, and humiliation, and my heart hurts for them. I see a poor , lonely, abandoned, disabled person on the bus , and feel some of their pain. The tortures people go through in concentration camps hurts them just as much as it would hurt you and me. Etc.

It used to be that those weren't human beings so it didn't matter. I literally believed as a sociopath that other people were the equivalent of illusions.

Do you think a compassionate person suffers more than they would if they were sociopathic?

 

[Spiderman]

It sucks to know how miserable I am there is someone in worse agony

 

[Sha'irullah]

I find there is more suffering now that God has given me compassion. As a kid I was a sociopath that even went so low as to dismember small animals.

Through prayer I became deeply compassionate. Realizing other people and animals have feelings brought about more suffering. As a kid I seriously believed other people weren't human beings that had feelings. Now I realize that sex-slave of ISIS is an actual person with feelings that lives a life of torture , fear, and humiliation, and my heart hurts for them. I see a poor , lonely, abandoned, disabled person on the bus , and feel some of their pain. The tortures people go through in concentration camps hurts them just as much as it would hurt you and me. Etc.

It used to be that those weren't human beings so it didn't matter. I literally believed as a sociopath that other people were the equivalent of illusions.

Do you think a compassionate person suffers more than they would if they were sociopathic?

I strongly believe this is why the compassionate suffer and why a certain amount of indifference must be achieved in order to put one's mind at rest at the end of the day. We as a society are riddled with a view of the world that gives us an unquestionable desire to change it and make it right. This feeling tends to be exclusively American and exclusively imperialistic at its core. Every society, nation and ideology except Islam has given up on this. The inner drive to change and be given the peace of mind that you are morally good is something that seems to be a very basic human instinct but it never seems to be quenched by many things. Socialism, pacifism, hippies and liberal theology are all ways we have addressed this but they all fall so flat when compared to the things that have lasted throughout mankind.

I am not going to theorize on whether we can find peace and sustainable solutions to stop this inner turmoil but I do think it will destroy us in due time if we let it bother us.

 

[Trailblazer]

I find there is more suffering now that God has given me compassion. As a kid I was a sociopath that even went so low as to dismember small animals.

Through prayer I became deeply compassionate. Realizing other people and animals have feelings brought about more suffering.

Can you explain how that happened through prayer?

Do you think a compassionate person suffers more than they would if they were sociopathic?

Certainly a compassionate person suffers more because they are connected to their feelings and they feel the pain of others.

How do you accommodate a God that allows so much suffering?

 

[Trailblazer]

It sucks to know how miserable I am there is someone in worse agony

I am not sure what you mean, but there is always someone in worse agony although many are in less agony and some are not in agony at all. What hurts is to be surrounded by people who are not in agony at all when I am in agony and then to feel guilty because I know many are in more agony than I am in.

 

[Nakosis]

It sucks to know how miserable I am there is someone in worse agony

 

[Duke_Leto]

I find there is more suffering now that God has given me compassion. As a kid I was a sociopath that even went so low as to dismember small animals.

It used to be that those weren't human beings so it didn't matter. I literally believed as a sociopath that other people were the equivalent of illusions.

Hey, for what it's worth I don't think that's particularly sociopathic -- a lot of children do and think things like that. I burned ants with a magnifying glass, for instance, and often thought the same thing, that other people seemed like robots. I've heard other people express similar stories.

Do you think a compassionate person suffers more than they would if they were sociopathic?

I think it depends on how much one can distance themselves emotionally from suffering, or accept the reality of it. I don't think you have to learn to become indifferent to it, like @Sha'irullah suggested, but I think it's possible to maintain a sense of compassion/empathy while also jading yourself to pain.

 

[osgart]

The flip side of suffering in compassion, is that compassionate people love to make things worthwhile for other people, and that makes for a quality of existence. Look at all the things people need and enjoy. Those things don't exist without compassion. Without compassion then there is war, power mongering, genocide.

 

[Spiderman]

Can you explain how that happened through prayer?

Certainly a compassionate person suffers more because they are connected to their feelings and they feel the pain of others.

How do you accommodate a God that allows so much suffering?

I began to pray and that was the means by which I realized that other people have feelings. The fact that God allows that much suffering, either means god is a prick, or that God sees that those suffering people will have a reward that on the other side will cause them to no longer care about the suffering they endured

 

[Trailblazer]

I began to pray and that was the means by which I realized that other people have feelings.

So I guess God helped you see that.

The fact that God allows that much suffering, either means god is a prick, or that God sees that those suffering people will have a reward that on the other side will cause them to no longer care about the suffering they endured

I think it is the latter, but that does not negate the suffering some people have to endure before they get to the other side.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

Can you explain how that happened through prayer?

Certainly a compassionate person suffers more because they are connected to their feelings and they feel the pain of others.

How do you accommodate a God that allows so much suffering?

How do you propose God could prevent suffering?

 

[dfnj]

I find there is more suffering now that God has given me compassion. As a kid I was a sociopath that even went so low as to dismember small animals.

Through prayer I became deeply compassionate. Realizing other people and animals have feelings brought about more suffering. As a kid I seriously believed other people weren't human beings that had feelings. Now I realize that sex-slave of ISIS is an actual person with feelings that lives a life of torture , fear, and humiliation, and my heart hurts for them. I see a poor , lonely, abandoned, disabled person on the bus , and feel some of their pain. The tortures people go through in concentration camps hurts them just as much as it would hurt you and me. Etc.

It used to be that those weren't human beings so it didn't matter. I literally believed as a sociopath that other people were the equivalent of illusions.

Do you think a compassionate person suffers more than they would if they were sociopathic?

You seem to have a pretty brain. This book will really help you figure out your own human nature:

https://www.amazon.com/King-Warrior-Magician-Lover-Rediscovering/dp/0062506064

The book is amazing at analyzing human character. It provides a map for how the human mind is configure. It also does a really neat job showing how the character configurations show up in movies. For example, what makes Star Trek the original series good is you have Captain Kirk (the Warrior), Bones (the Lover), and Spock (the Magician) and all three together bring a Kingship to the realm. The same theme occurs in lots of movies. For example, the Wizard of Oz Dorothy gets bonked on the head. She meets the Scarecrow (the magician), the Lion (the warrior), the Tin Man (the lover), and Wizard of Oz (the King). The Scarecrow wants a brain but is the only one who solves problems. The Lion wants courage but is the only one who acts courageously. The Tin Man wants a heart but is the only one who acts with compassion. It's only when Dorothy meets the Oz (the King) and she finds out she could have went home at any time. She clicks her heels and wakes up. In Star Wars we have Obi Wan Kanobi (the magician), Hans Solo (the Warrior), Princess Lea (the lover), and Luke the King to be. It's the same archetypal patterns over and over again. After reading the book you will know why some movies are "good" and others are just not worth watching.

 

[Trailblazer]

How do you propose God could prevent suffering?

God can't, not now that He has created humans with free will and a world which by its very nature causes suffering....

Why did God have to do that?

 

[sun rise]

Do you think a compassionate person suffers more than they would if they were sociopathic?

Yes, indeed.