GirlChat #602408
I don't think anyone is talking about accidentally hurting another. That is part of the lack of omniscience which is very common among you hoomins. The crux of the matter here is intentionally hurting another. And that is easy to spot with physical and psychological abuse and abusive neglect. That is incompatible with any rational definition of love. If you cannot tell apart the acts of someone who loves from the acts of someone who hates or who presents criminal aggression or indifference, how can you say that a beating spouse or parent love their spouse or child any more than a playground bully who verbally abuses them, a mugger who beats them for their wallet, or a passerby who lets them hurt in the sidewalk? Because at their best they are better than that? Well, even if you love someone 99% of the time, if you intentionally hurt them for the other 1% of the time, then during that 1% of the time you are not loving them. Period. It remains for them to decide if the 1% of the time is a worthy price to pay for the other 99% of the time -- and who knows, maybe it is. But calling it love during that 1% of the time makes the word meaningless. |