The Slippery Slope of Suffering
Even when Jen is half-baked (her words) she’s worth listening to. Today she quotes several other bloggers, all of whom have noted more or less the same thing: that in our culture, suffering has replaced evil as the thing to be avoided at all costs, and that this has resulted in a decreased respect for human life (as witness the numerous abortions that take place every day, the rise of advocacy for euthanasia, and so forth). She asks,
Why is it that fear of suffering leads to decreased respect for human life?
To which I reply, how can it not?
If suffering is the thing most to be avoided in general, then it follows that my own suffering must be avoided. Given human selfishness, it’s clear that my own suffering must soon take center stage. And suffering is relative. The avoidance of pain soon turns into the avoidance of discomfort, and the avoidance of inconvenience—the avoidance of doing anything at all that would put me out if I can possibly help it. Once one has assumed this attitude, what are other human beings but utilitarian devices to be used to meet my needs, to provide for my comforts and pleasures, and then to be discarded when they no longer serve their purpose?
Love, on the other hand, always involves suffering. To love is to be vulnerable: our loved ones will face trials, will get hurt, will eventually die. We will feel pain on their behalf—and sometimes we will feel pain because they hurt us. The risk is ever-present, and frequently realized.
To love well, we must suffer well. If we choose never to suffer at all, is it surprising that we find it easier to dispose of others rather than to love them?