Different From Me

1157:

Edited by CJ Tointon

Perhaps some of the great ideas, non-violence, non-separation, empathy and egalitarianism, can suggest a very changed approach to life.  Taking any one of these ideas on-board is likely to have a good effect on how we treat each other and how we perceive animals. 

We might even start to see animals as being of equal importance to humans and therefore equally in need of protection.  If I get this far and realise it implies a change to my lifestyle, I might find things a bit scary.  But the upside is that a door opens to a whole new world of exciting possibilities.

Take animals for instance.  In some ways we’re superior to them, but in other ways we’re NOT!  I can learn a lot from them for my own benefit.  I don’t have to eat them to learn from them!!

By realising some of their superior qualities, I’m more likely to change the way in which I perceive them.  For example, they probably have better survival skills than me, better relationship skills, or they’re less gratuitously violent than me. They probably don’t do revenge.  They don’t bear a grudge.  They seem, in many ways, so much more sophisticated than I could ever be.  That’s one whole heap of learning I have in the pipeline.

To accept animals as my equal I need to use my imagination.  If animals are worthy of equal respect, it’s no different to my respecting you.  If you come from a different cultural background to me I could draw benefit from your showing me things I didn’t know.  I could learn things about myself.

At first it might feel uncomfortable.  I might be hostile to your 'differences' and be threatened by the unfamiliarity of them. But whether there are species differences or racial differences, once I get used to them, I can practise empathy.  Then, all my distrust and dislike can turn to interest and then to admiration.

We’ve just had a series of programmes on TV, here in Australia, on asylum seekers.  It was called "Go Back to Where You Came From".  A group of six people went to live with refugees.  Their initial hostility, along with various misconceptions, melted away as soon as they entered these peoples' daily lives.  There was a huge attitudinal shift in each member of the group.  Inevitably this has been a hot topic of conversation around the dinner table and in the media. 

After seeing the programme, I came away having learnt a lot about foreigners and about foreign cultures.  This helps me transfer empathy towards other humans, as a token of appreciation for their culture.  In much the same way, it helps me appreciate the non-human culture.