Most of us in animal welfare are, by nature, compassionate people. Otherwise we wouldn't care enough to be involved.
One thing that happens over and over when we hear about acts of cruelty, violence, and neglect committed by others is the angry gut reaction. Statements such as "somebody ought to do {whatever the offense was} to him/her and see how they like it!"
Most of us don't really want to inflict harm on others, no matter how angry we are. Most of us don't really mean those things. We want to better our world through compassion; we want to spread happiness and joy. How do we do that when we're pissed off?
Many of us also have a spiritual belief system. We look to the teachings of our sacred books, the words of God (whatever name your God goes by), and our inner divine voice, for guidance of how to rectify our feelings of anger, the need to balance the scales of justice, to make sure the evil acts do not go unpunished - and our guilt about feeling this way. We want to be forgiven for our own sins. We are taught to hate the sin and love the sinner. We are torn.
Do you struggle with conflicting emotions when dealing with cruelty? How do you deal with the conflict? How do you attain reconciliation?
One thing that happens over and over when we hear about acts of cruelty, violence, and neglect committed by others is the angry gut reaction. Statements such as "somebody ought to do {whatever the offense was} to him/her and see how they like it!"
Most of us don't really want to inflict harm on others, no matter how angry we are. Most of us don't really mean those things. We want to better our world through compassion; we want to spread happiness and joy. How do we do that when we're pissed off?
Many of us also have a spiritual belief system. We look to the teachings of our sacred books, the words of God (whatever name your God goes by), and our inner divine voice, for guidance of how to rectify our feelings of anger, the need to balance the scales of justice, to make sure the evil acts do not go unpunished - and our guilt about feeling this way. We want to be forgiven for our own sins. We are taught to hate the sin and love the sinner. We are torn.
Do you struggle with conflicting emotions when dealing with cruelty? How do you deal with the conflict? How do you attain reconciliation?