If there's something I hate worse than whining liberals, it's "compassionate conservatives". Here's a thought to keep in mind next time somebody comes up wanting to feel your pain: Hands off, you sick pervert!
Or as a far greater philosopher than I put it in regards to Christianity:
Christianity is called the religion of pity. - Pity stands in antithesis to the tonic emotions which enhance the energy of the feeling of life: it has a depressive effect. One loses force when one pities. The loss of force which life has already sustained through suffering is increased and multiplied even further by pity.
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The Christian concept of God - God as God of the sick, God as spider, God as spirit - is one of the most corrupt conceptions of God arrived at on earth: perhaps it even represents the low-water mark in the descending development of the God type. God degenerated to the contradiction of life, instead of being its transfiguration and eternal Yes! In God a declaration of hostility towards life, nature, the will to life!
Friedrich Nietzche The Anti-Christ [sections 7 and 18]
Article comments
1 - Al Gammate
Hello Al:
I agree with Friedrich Nietzche in that one loses force when one pities.
I believe that regularly engaging in pity or any of the negative emotions (e.g., anxiety, rage, depression) leads to negative unproductive behaviors.
Instead of pitying someone, it's better to encourage that person to self-improve.
Self-improvement is the essence of being an Ubermensch!
Though Nietzche views Christianity as the religion of pity, some people view it as the religion of self-improvement!
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).