Well, we all are capable of dehumanizing others, right?
Correct.
“Narcissist” is another one of those labels, I think. It is a label used in resentment of our own capacity to be self-centered.
No. It is a big difference.
Narcissism is the belief that “Me first, nobody else in the world exists.”
Self-centered is “Me first, and other people do exist in the world”
Two big time different ways of thinking.
Hey, doesn’t God want us to care about ourselves? Yes, there is something to be said and reprimanded about benefiting ourselves at the expense of others, but reprimanding in itself is not a criticism of the goodness of humanity.
Not sure if I posted this in this thread, but I think there are 3 levels of selfishness.
Level 1: Legitimate self interest. You’re thirsty, so you drink water. You’re hungry, so you eat a meal. You’re sick, so see a doctor.
Level 2: Selfishness: I’m going to do what I want, as long as it does not harm others. This appears to be the “selfishness” and “me first” you are talking about.
Level 3: Narcissist, sociopath: I’m going to do what I want, and I don’t care if I hurt others. The CEO who lays off 5000 people so he can get a bigger bonus check. The kid who kills someone to get their air jordan shoes.
Level 3 and Level 2 are unacceptable to God. Level 1 is tolerable to God.
It can be, if you ask people who have been so labeled.
It isn’t the label, but how people are treated.
I treat people with mental illness with kindness. I’ll treat a sociopath with kindness as long as he/she does too. (I’m not a masochist, so I’m not going to accept abuse from a sociopath).
What you presented is an accurate view of sociopathy, I think, except that the sociopath does not change his value of others. Because of a disabled ability to empathize, the sociopath does not know of the value of others in the first place.
I used the example of the person born without the ability to feel pain, who can put their hand on a hot stove and keep it there literally cooking themselves.
Is it not God’s will that we all grow and heal?
God’s will is the cross here on this planet. Growth is optional. Healing is optional.
Can we not know such love through the love of other people?
Imagine the boss who is cold and distant, but his employee is kind and warm. The boss does not want to do something so he tells the employee to do something. Now, who is warm? The boss or the employee?
If God refuses to do something but orders someone else to do it, is he being warm?
Would it not be more freeing to let go of all of the past indoctrination, just a little?
If the indoctrination were false, yes.
Yes, I get it. If God is not infinitely merciful, then He might allow us to choose hell with our “buggy code”, not having a clue what we are doing. Given this image, one can remain with some insecurity, some fear.
When it comes to spiritual things, God is infinitely merciful. Temporal things? Not so much.
Question: would you allow a person to choose hell without fully knowing what they are doing?
I wouldn’t. But that’s how I think, which is inferior to how God thinks.
In some ways, I hate to say, I think people do better than God, in some limited cases.
For example, a human surgeon at least gives a patient anesthesia prior to doing the horrifically painful operation. God doesn’t do this, but is called the Great Physician.
I don’t know why anesthesia is a horrible idea in God’s eyes. If I need an operation to fix buggy code, I want the anesthesia. The fix will hurt!
