My "compassionate conservative" realization...

[hopein08]

I know, this isn't post about Katrina or anything, but I had an epiphany of sorts last night. I thought it might be interesting to share and get some feedback. I hope this is the right board to post it on. Please move it if it isn't.

Anyway, I was reading "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera last night. It's the second time I've read and I was totally lost the first time (for a college class) so I thought I'd give it another try. Anyway, check this out...

"In languages that derive from Latin, 'compassion' means: we cannot look on coolly as others suffer; or, we sympathize with those who suffer. Another word with approximately the same meaning, 'pity', connotes a certain condescension towards the sufferer. 'To take pity on a woman' means that we are better of than she, that we stoop to her level, lower ourselves.

That is why the word 'compassion' generally inspires suspicion; it designates what is considered inferior, second-rate sentiment that has little to do with love. To love someone out of compassion means not really to love."

So, isn't this perfect? A compassionate conservative is really just looking down their nose at the average person. It's like they know that it's their duty, perhaps Christian, to get a little bit dirty by acknowledging that there is someone worse off than they are, claiming to truly love and care about those people, and promptly moving on to more self-centered endeavors; fully certain that they have fulfilled what they were "supposed" to do and could now cleanse themselves and move on.

I don't know why I never connected these dots before. It makes perfect sense. Any thoughts?

I just had to share my humble opinion and awakening. Thanks for listening.

[Tesla]

1. Most don't help they Say how bad it is, but they don't do anything

[Grateful for Hope]

2. a better word to define what is needed

is "empathy".

[Autonomy]

3. There may be a cultural bias in your definitions

Pity is surely condescending, but compassion need not be. Someone who has actual instead of feigned compassion is practicing a form of love. But then in Buddhism any form of egotism would be contrary to the goals of enlightenment, and therefore contrary to love and compassion.

http://www.meaning.ca/articles04/yu-hsi-compassion.htm

"Love and compassion are the two key components of the Four Noble States of Mind revealed by the Buddha. In their eagerness to live a moral life, some Buddhists may regard love and compassion as a moral or ethical norm to live up to, or as a lofty ideal to "advocate." Apparently, this normative perception stems from the Chinese Buddhist interpretation of love as "bring happiness to sentient beings" and of compassion as "relieve sentient beings of sufferings." In other words, love and compassion is assigned a prescriptive meaning and an altruist mission.

But the Buddha and historical Buddhist sages were not moralists. Rather, they took an existential approach, pointing out that love and compassion is a quality - and an inner power -- intrinsic to our true nature, i.e., the 'Buddha-nature.'"

[hopein08]

4. You got me, I have to apologize...

As I hang my head in shame, I must say that I am guilty on that count.

I should have mentioned that the author does make it clear that the Latin influenced words concentrate more on the idea of "suffering" while other languages (like Czech, German, Polish, and Swedish) concentrate the idea of compassion on "feeling" in a more positive light.

Please accept my sincerest apologies. I guess in my haste to portray something a particular way I didn't give a comprehensive argument.

Thank you very much for pointing this out.

[Autonomy]

6. No big deal. You're actually on to something, I think.

It may be that conservatives think compassion is pity. They only know how to relate to others in two dimensions: right vs. left, and up vs. down. Compassion is too transcendent for them, so they mimic it with conDESCENDING pity.

One could probably take that theory and extrapolate it to a lot of the ways that conservatives do things. It would be quite eye opening.

[riverwalker]

5. the wisdom from suffering

isn't that the jewel in the lotus? Om mani padme hum.

[applegrove]

7. Nothing wrong with compassion or empathy. Pity is difference.

The problem with compassionate conservative is that is it like Bush's "we're problem solvers" or "clear skies act". It is lies. It is just more of the Wall of Lies.

[Mr_Spock]

8. Compassion is one thing, it may be that Repukes think pity is a synonym

but it certainly isn't. Compassion is SHARING the feeling with another and it cannot be turned on or off - you either have it or you are a Republican.

Pity is the only thing a sycophant like a Republican can "feel" - if it suits their desire for personal gain, then they will turn on the "pity" programming.

[bobbieinok]

9. 'compassion'...I really got going on this one time, so bear with me

in German, the translation of compassion is Mitleid......mit means with and leid means suffering

....so I saw that and looked up the etymoloty of compassion.....com is Latin for with and passion is Latin for suffering

....so then I wondered about sympathy and looked up the etymology...sym is Greek for with and pathy is Greek for suffering

this doesn't really address the topic of your post, but learning the etymological meaning of compassion as the result of my study of German really blew me away