Please theists, regardless of label, I see similar motifs in many religions, this is simply another I object to.
"Suffering is good, because it teaches empathy."
NONSENSE,
If suffering was good, then our species would not invent things to reduce suffering. We would not have evolved to make our lives easier, such as going from naked hunter gatherers, nomadic, to the point of making clothing and building housing. We would not seek to stop crime, or find cures for diseases.
If suffering is so damned beneficial then why build tornado basements? Why create new vaccines for the flu?
Survival and cooperation create empathy, our evolutionary drive to survive create empathy, not our desire to suffer.
This morning a Rabbi said this, but in Asian religions, you'd get the argument, without yin yang.
Bad happening is natural, but it is not something we as a species desire, nor is physical harm or death required to have empathy for others. I find that notion sick.
Childhood cancer isn't teaching anything, not to the kid, not to the parents. STUDYING the causes are what give us answers and we should not glorify suffering as if it is a good thing.
Pain is natural, death is natural, cruelty and compassion are all natural. But to call suffering a good thing to me is sick and counter productive.
"Suffering is good, because it teaches empathy."
NONSENSE,
If suffering was good, then our species would not invent things to reduce suffering. We would not have evolved to make our lives easier, such as going from naked hunter gatherers, nomadic, to the point of making clothing and building housing. We would not seek to stop crime, or find cures for diseases.
If suffering is so damned beneficial then why build tornado basements? Why create new vaccines for the flu?
Survival and cooperation create empathy, our evolutionary drive to survive create empathy, not our desire to suffer.
This morning a Rabbi said this, but in Asian religions, you'd get the argument, without yin yang.
Bad happening is natural, but it is not something we as a species desire, nor is physical harm or death required to have empathy for others. I find that notion sick.
Childhood cancer isn't teaching anything, not to the kid, not to the parents. STUDYING the causes are what give us answers and we should not glorify suffering as if it is a good thing.
Pain is natural, death is natural, cruelty and compassion are all natural. But to call suffering a good thing to me is sick and counter productive.
