Articulate_and_Analytical
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2014
- Posts
- 155
Today is the day that we honor Martin Luther King, a visionary man who believed in peaceful coexistence, inclusiveness and social justice.
Doctor King was raised in a Baptist household and became a Baptist Minister, however, he rejected the self-centered view that the Baptists were somehow superior to all other religious faiths. He believed that great good could be achieved by Anglicans, Catholics, Deists, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, and people from any other religious group.
He rejected self-centeredness and believed that we should all rise above our own narrow, individualistic concerns and embrace the broader concerns of all humanity. He believed that one of the big problems of life, that so many people never quite get to the point of rising above self.
He didn’t believe in a society were blacks were treated as superior to white, he didn’t believe in a society where Baptists were treated as superior to Catholics, Jews or Hindus. He believed in a society where ALL people were treated as equals and NOBODY would be oppressed for belonging to the “wrong” group.
According to Doctor King:
“The individual who is self-centered, the individual who is egocentric, ends up being very sensitive, a very touchy person. And that is one of the tragic effects of a self-centered attitude, that it leads to a very sensitive and touchy response toward the universe. These are the people you must handle with kid gloves because they are touchy, they are sensitive. And they are sensitive because they are self-centered. They are too absorbed in self and anything gets them off, anything makes them angry. Anything makes them feel that people are looking over them because of a tragic self-centeredness. That even leads to the point that the individual is not capable of facing trouble and the hard moments of life. One can become so self-centered, so egocentric that when the hard and difficult moments of life come, he cannot face them because he’s too centered in himself. These are the people who cannot face disappointments. These are the people who cannot face being defeated. These are the people who cannot face being criticized.”
I agree with Doctor King.
The person who is unable to rise above childish self-centered interests lacks empathy and will never grow up. And a society that is filled with people who are unable to rise above their own self-interests will never develop as a society.
If Doctor King were alive today, he would be heartened to see men marching for women’s rights. He would be heartened to see whites, blacks, Persians and Arabs marching for the rights of Latino immigrants. He would be heartened to see whites, blacks, Latinos and others marching for the rights of Native American Indian tribes.
Yes, there are millions of Americans who are self-centered and lack empathy, however, there are also millions of other Americans who HAVE EMPATHY and who reach out in an attempt to aid and comfort those who belong to a different religious faith, whose skin is a different color, whose sexual orientation is not the same as theirs, who is of a different gender, or was born in a different country.
We have a LONG way to go, and we might not ever get there, however, America DOES have people with empathy, who are willing to reach out to people who are different from themselves and fight for their rights.
Doctor King was raised in a Baptist household and became a Baptist Minister, however, he rejected the self-centered view that the Baptists were somehow superior to all other religious faiths. He believed that great good could be achieved by Anglicans, Catholics, Deists, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, and people from any other religious group.
He rejected self-centeredness and believed that we should all rise above our own narrow, individualistic concerns and embrace the broader concerns of all humanity. He believed that one of the big problems of life, that so many people never quite get to the point of rising above self.
He didn’t believe in a society were blacks were treated as superior to white, he didn’t believe in a society where Baptists were treated as superior to Catholics, Jews or Hindus. He believed in a society where ALL people were treated as equals and NOBODY would be oppressed for belonging to the “wrong” group.
According to Doctor King:
“The individual who is self-centered, the individual who is egocentric, ends up being very sensitive, a very touchy person. And that is one of the tragic effects of a self-centered attitude, that it leads to a very sensitive and touchy response toward the universe. These are the people you must handle with kid gloves because they are touchy, they are sensitive. And they are sensitive because they are self-centered. They are too absorbed in self and anything gets them off, anything makes them angry. Anything makes them feel that people are looking over them because of a tragic self-centeredness. That even leads to the point that the individual is not capable of facing trouble and the hard moments of life. One can become so self-centered, so egocentric that when the hard and difficult moments of life come, he cannot face them because he’s too centered in himself. These are the people who cannot face disappointments. These are the people who cannot face being defeated. These are the people who cannot face being criticized.”
I agree with Doctor King.
The person who is unable to rise above childish self-centered interests lacks empathy and will never grow up. And a society that is filled with people who are unable to rise above their own self-interests will never develop as a society.
If Doctor King were alive today, he would be heartened to see men marching for women’s rights. He would be heartened to see whites, blacks, Persians and Arabs marching for the rights of Latino immigrants. He would be heartened to see whites, blacks, Latinos and others marching for the rights of Native American Indian tribes.
Yes, there are millions of Americans who are self-centered and lack empathy, however, there are also millions of other Americans who HAVE EMPATHY and who reach out in an attempt to aid and comfort those who belong to a different religious faith, whose skin is a different color, whose sexual orientation is not the same as theirs, who is of a different gender, or was born in a different country.
We have a LONG way to go, and we might not ever get there, however, America DOES have people with empathy, who are willing to reach out to people who are different from themselves and fight for their rights.
