Lately I've been thinking a lot about what makes someone an asshole. Though there can be many factors, I think the root of the problem is selfishness.
Now, if there's one cure to selfishness, it's being raised Catholic. The entire experience is about community, and community is about other people and assholes are bad with people.
The point is the structure, not the dogma. Lessons drilled into me as a child reinforced selflessness, mercy, strength and love – all traits assholes lack.
To me, people like Father Damien and Mother Teresa were presented as the ideal, the pinnacle; totally self-aware and the ultimate in self-mastery.
Father Damien was a priest who cared for the lepers of Hawaii forced live out the remainder of their days on the island of Molokai. At that time, Molokai had a small non-leper community but the infected were isolated on a beach with the ocean ahead and towering cliffs to their backs. Without a boat they couldn't get off the island and without fingers they couldn't climb the rocks to escape their narrow strip of land.
Before Damien, the colony was wasteland, it was anarchy.
The strongest took the food and supplies for themselves. Women and children, those too weak to fight off predators, were raped repeatedly until they became too disfigured then finally, left alone to die. Those suffering from the later stages of the disease, people whose limbs had already rotted off, starved to death because they didn't posses the mobility to reach supplies dropped on the beach.
No one buried the dead. Flies, maggots, birds and scavengers ate the remains of the deceased. There was no hope.
Then Damien came. He built a church. Then a school. Then a hospital. He distributed the food and supplies. He brought hope. He stopped the violence. He reminded people of their humanity. He tended to the dying and buried them once they had passed.
Eventually the disease caused his fingers, toes, nose, lips and other body parts to rot and fall off as well, and it killed him too.
To me, people like Father Damien and Mother Teresa were presented as the ideal, the pinnacle; totally self-aware and the ultimate in self-mastery.
Father Damien was a priest who cared for the lepers of Hawaii forced live out the remainder of their days on the island of Molokai. At that time, Molokai had a small non-leper community but the infected were isolated on a beach with the ocean ahead and towering cliffs to their backs. Without a boat they couldn't get off the island and without fingers they couldn't climb the rocks to escape their narrow strip of land.
Before Damien, the colony was wasteland, it was anarchy.
The strongest took the food and supplies for themselves. Women and children, those too weak to fight off predators, were raped repeatedly until they became too disfigured then finally, left alone to die. Those suffering from the later stages of the disease, people whose limbs had already rotted off, starved to death because they didn't posses the mobility to reach supplies dropped on the beach.
No one buried the dead. Flies, maggots, birds and scavengers ate the remains of the deceased. There was no hope.
Then Damien came. He built a church. Then a school. Then a hospital. He distributed the food and supplies. He brought hope. He stopped the violence. He reminded people of their humanity. He tended to the dying and buried them once they had passed.
Eventually the disease caused his fingers, toes, nose, lips and other body parts to rot and fall off as well, and it killed him too.
This story is just one of many I was raised on and I think it illustrates my point quite well. Religion (at least, in my experience) isn't about converting nonbelievers or proving you're right – apart from the supernatural, it's a way to impart lessons of goodness and love on future generations.
So, for the sake of argument, I will agree that religion is irrational, superstitious and arcane. But for all its faults, I still see no better way to teach new generations the lessons that, frankly, will keep people from being assholes.
So, for the sake of argument, I will agree that religion is irrational, superstitious and arcane. But for all its faults, I still see no better way to teach new generations the lessons that, frankly, will keep people from being assholes.
I REALLY hope you're not trying to say Catholics (or religious people) aren't assholes, because I've learned the asshole gene doesn't discriminate - it affects all religious equally.
ReplyDeleteNo not I'm trying to say Catholics aren't assholes. That would be silly. I know a lot of Catholics who are the biggest assholes ever. I'm just trying to say that cultures that truly promote community and interdependence (usually poor communities made up of large families) produce people who are aware and considerate of others' needs.
ReplyDeleteDom, that's not what your post argues at all. Your post is saying that religion produces people who are aware and considerate of others' needs, as evidenced by, "But for all its faults, I still see no better way to teach new generations the lessons that, frankly, will keep people from being assholes."
ReplyDeleteYour comment's logic is circular—essentially, you're saying a culture that inculcates compassion in its citizenry has compassionate citizens. I agree to the extent that it matters, but it has nothing to do with the original post.
First of all, my post isn't arguing anything, I'M arguing that, generally and in my case, in my religious background and experience, Catholicism creates a community that is generally intolerant of selfishness and selfishness is a key ingredient in assholes.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course I'm not saying that 100 percent of the time a social structure that "inculcates compassion in it's citizenry has compassionate citizens."
That's like saying a culture that promotes education makes everyone a doctor, lawyer and/or professor.
I'm saying it's a good way to pass on values, that is all. I'm not saying that every value absolutely gets passed on.
As to my logic being circular, this is the organization of my post:
1. Assholes = selfish
2. Belonging to a community (in my case, a Catholic community) makes you care about others.
3. Caring about others = not selfishness
4. Example of a selfless person
5. Conclusion: Because of its structure, religion is a effective method to promote selflessness.
The End