Ever look into the eyes of your dog or cat and see the unconditional love that they express towards you? I am bewildered why we can't get that same kind of unconditional love, compassion and trust from each other...even when we disagree.
In my lifetime, I have owned an array of pets, a list which includes no less than koi, goldfish, parakeets, gerbils hamsters, toads, salamanders, turtles, dogs and cats. I've also had friends who've owned monkeys, iguanas, snakes, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets and horses. That is a fairly broad range of animals to have as pets. What amazes me is that in just about every animal listed, when you observed the animal's behavior around a person it had affection for or trusted - those emotions were always very clear and distinct. In some way this particular person was the person they looked to as mother, father, protector or family.
Over the Internet there is a video of a lion in a cage hugging a woman through the bars of the cage. As the story that goes with the video, the woman had rescued this lion in the wild from near death. Nursed it back to full health. After a period of time, she turned the lion over to a zoo and did not see the lion again for some time. Then, after some time had passed she returned to visit the lion and the video shows this lion clearly reaching through the bars of his cage, pulling her forward and literally hugging this woman like a baby hugging it's mother.
Then after I watched that video, I read a simple news article on the Internet, and after the article there is commentary. After maybe one or two initial nice remarks, the commentary immediately degenerates into some hateful, racial, political, sexual and divisive conversation. Gone was the ability to give a thoughtful and free comment. Now all these "opinion experts" were running amok with their vile and personal attack commentary. It is shameful.
Mankind has the extraordinary ability to build a computer, to construct an Internet, to create the power, wired and wireless resources to run it all - yet we don't have the simple compassion to communicate to one another about a differing opinions, awareness or experiences - without trying to crush or tear someone opposite of us apart. Is it a sign of weakness to speak towards someone with respect even if they have a different or opposing opinion to you? When it comes down to it, does a man and a dog opinions differ all that much when it comes to seeing a cooked steak or the wagging behind of their female opposites?
Yet you put two opposing strangers in a comments section of an Internet article and the conversation degenerates into something like two pit-bulls fighting in a ring. Even in that sad and cruel example of two pit-bulls fighting, you have to know that someone is pulling their string, egging them onto this barbaric fight. I have to wonder who or what is egging on the people in the comments section of an article on the Internet?
Alas, before my own brain becomes darkened after reading such social vitriol, I usually just close that Internet article and go to another page. When I'm done reading, I turn to my three "man eating" Rottweilers (who are always sitting or laying somewhere near me) and look into their eyes. When they look back, they re-energize me and remind me about the single most important thing in life: unconditional love.
