Conformity loses the sense of our own greatness

1516: 

The ugliest representation of human society is in what we do (without thinking a second thought) to countless animals.  We focus on ourselves, ignore the effect we have on anything that is not done purely for the sake of 'human benefit'.  But by saying this is to denigrate virtually everyone, as if I’m standing in the middle of a football crowd and shouting, “Football stinks”.  What Animal Rights advocates are saying looks like one gigantic insult, levelled at the largest number of people imaginable.

But that's what we are trying to turn around, by saying, “Yes, it’s wrong.  It’s all so unnecessary. It’s the height of cruelty, to enslave and abuse animals.  It ought to stop”.  In saying that, we also realise that this won’t initially attract anyone.  We must come up with something more acceptable, otherwise it remains an insult and is neatly put down as being only that.

The meat-eater, the zoo-visitor, the animal-skin-shoe-wearer, all have to be made aware of what exactly they're involved with.  But being judgemental about other people's values is not helpful.  We each have sensitivities in different areas, and those who’re sensitive to the animals’ plight are bound to speak up on their behalf - but we're not trying to be gratuitously insulting.  It's quite possible that, as animal advocates, we may be less sensitive in some other areas. All of us know our strengths and yet disagree about important matters. I can see greatness in most every person I meet (because I choose to go looking for it) but I don’t conjure it out of thin air. I actually see it because I can’t miss it. Because this potential intelligence and sensitivity is in all of us.  But if you don’t consciously go looking for it, it will go unnoticed.  And we all want to be noticed.  We all want to feel special in some way.  We none of us like to be criticised for what we do. We prize our freedom to choose the best outcomes for ourselves.  On the one hand we deny our own greatness and on the other hand we want it.  

Both denial and desire play a part in our own development. If we feel judged, it slows or halts our sense of making progress. And when progress doesn’t seem to be happening, the great danger is that we eventually give up and settle for conformity.  Our greatness is allowed to wither, along with our most valuable asset of intelligent sensitivity.  Out of desperation, we become narcissistic and ego-driven. And we pass that onto our offspring, so that when kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up they say “famous”, which probably means they just want to be thought of as ‘great’, because they can feel the potential of greatness within themselves.

But as the reality of this fades, they lose touch with the 'greater part of themselves'. They lose their ability to make their own original decisions.  They become 'we'.  We cave in to the many second-rate sensual pleasures, many of which include robbing animals of their lives to enhance the meaning and enjoyment of our own lives.  We find ways of turning a blind eye, numbing our empathy, squashing our individual thinking and instincts.  We say, “If others can do it, it must be okay for me to do it”.  And we become the willing followers of those who seem to have it all, namely those we regard as 'great and powerful'.  But, as it happens, many of the ‘emulated’ are not so very great after all - they seem to concentrate on feathering their own nests and fail to set a good example.

         

So Dad takes the kids to the zoo, and sets them in front of majestic lions, locked behind bars, and says “me human: you animal ... me great: you nothing but banged up prisoners”.  Then everyone has a good laugh about it and feels momentarily 'great', if only because we are un-caged humans who have the power to cage these beautiful creatures.

         

This doesn’t really make us feel ‘great’ for very long, but at least in the eyes of our children (who we’ve taken to the zoo) it makes us feel a whole lot better about ourselves. We’re momentarily popular with the kids.  We’re ‘special’ to them.  And they're very free with praise - "Great Dad".