(January 28, 2019 at 12:01 pm)Brian37 Wrote: Um no. Humans can have disagreements, and even not love each other, AND at the same time value non violence.
You are right, though. Growing up I cared far too much about what others thought of me, and instead of being myself, I constantly chased other's ideas. Most of the time all that did was disappoint me, or worse, make me a doormat.
When you say "love" I wouldn't put it that way.
I love my species POTENTIAL for diplomacy and non violence. Unfortunately we don't always achieve that. Should we strive for that? Certainly. But while I prefer non violence and pluralism and common law, our species isn't perfect and unfortunately we do have conflicts.
I do LOVE my species POTENTIAL for empathy, compassion and diplomacy. I simply don't ignore the fact we also can be quite cruel as a species to each other.
The thing is: caring about what everybody thinks destroys your self-esteem. We must select a small circle to care about their feelings only. Usually the circle has natural "loved ones" like parents, and chosen "loved ones".
It's wrong to love all the specie; because the specie -with all respect to you; Brian-, usually don't give a fuck unless there is an interest. I differentiate between "love" and "admiration".
But if somebody truly loves you; they MUST automatically become a serious potential to join your circle and you must repay their love back; at least to some extent. The lowest payment is -in my view- is to at least smile and accept their choice. Not use their feelings and use them with it, unless there's a serious reason not to love them back -like a stalker kidnapping a girl or something-..
