This is a quickie, since I am getting ready to head out the door, but I wanted to get this out. Yaeger posted about Albert Ellis, and I was pleased to see that because ever since my sophomore year in college Ellis has been one of my favorite psychological thinkers. I was looking for something on him today, something I remembered from college, when I came across a quote that I think he might have used if Ray had ever stopped him on the street and started doing the old 'Good Person' doo-doo on him.
"You're never a good person. Because if you do a good deed -- save a child, for example, from drowning at the risk of your own life -- that's a good deed. But ten minutes later you might kill somebody, or steal, or lie. So you're a person who does good, valuable, self- helping, and bad, unfortunate, self-defeating things."
I really couldn't agree more. We're all just people who sometimes do good and sometimes do bad. There is no need to run around beating yourself over the head with a Bible or a Qur'an or any other book of religion, making yourself feel like shit over not being perfect in the eyes of some nebulous idea of a deity. You aren't perfect now, you aren't ever gonna be perfect, so just accept yourself as you are and get on with living.
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NM, I think people like Ray value having a personal guarantee of Truth and Salvation far more than they value themselves. They're perfectly willing to loathe themselves and give up critical thinking as long as doing so provides:
ReplyDeleteFamily/Community
A sense of purpose
Some way to feel superior to others
Wow he summed up my feelings exactly...and in fewer words!
ReplyDeleteIt's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.
ReplyDelete- Batman
That quote rules, Henwli
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that ruined that quote (I watched Begins last night - great flick) is Katie Holmes' reply of:
ReplyDelete"Bruce?"
I mean, he's wearing a frickin' BAT COSTUME! I think it's fair to presume that he doesn't want his identity known and she's just like; "Bruce? Bruce Wayne? Of the Wayne Family? Lives at Wayne Manor, Gotham? OMG, I can't believe it's you Bruce Wayne, I'm gonna text my mom and tell her coz she'll never believe it's you!"
Sorry, it just winds me up. (Maggie's better in the Dark Knight IMHO)