The exceptions to this rule were the Christian fundamentalists in class. For them life was a test of character. Yes, on one side were temptation, ego, self, selfishness, the powerful desire for personal advantage, the elemental and basic biological mechanism which motivates us all to seek pleasure and to avoid pain, the temptation to act like a rat, to be a rat. But on the other side, for the Christian fundamentalists, were the Ten Commandments. Life was the struggle between the two forces, the powers of darkness and of light, each of us pulled one way by desire or dread, the other by God, Jesus, and the Way. Those who succumbed to temptation were condemned to hell, unless and until they repented their sins, pled for forgiveness, and vowed to be good. Those who resisted temptation, the apples of Satan, and followed the commandments were rewarded with life after death, immortality, and the bliss of heaven. Earlier in the quarter I had photocopied and distributed the list of peak experiences we had compiled.
“What would you be willing to die for?” I asked.
I started a new list on the white board at the front of the room and added to it as students raised their hands with each new suggestion. This activity excited them, and a dozen hands rose in quick succession. I had a hard time keeping up.
“Family!” was the first value mentioned.
“Friends.” Then students considered additions even more abstract.
“Country.”
“Freedom.”
“God.”
“Truth.”
But if it were necessary to choose just one value for which one would sacrifice one’s own life, then family was by consensus the clear class favorite. One young mother in row three, her lips trembling and her eyes glistening in the intensity of her love, swore that she would be willing to endure any torture for the lives and well-being of her children. Her poignant and passionate remarks inspired and evoked an outpouring of similar promises, pledges, and vows of self-sacrifice. Several of her classmates declared their own unconditional love for their children, for their wives and husbands, for parents, and for grandparents. One man stated that he would be willing to risk and if need be to sacrifice his own life for any child in danger, not just for his own son. To this several students nodded and murmured in approval and assent.
“Any decent human being would do the same!” the man declared.
He sounded angry now, at the thought, I assumed, of the indecent and selfish cowards unwilling to accept this challenge; and then, trapped awkwardly between his romantic idea of himself and his contempt for men less noble and brave, he lost control of his emotion, he trembled, and for a moment I thought he might cry. He looked down at his desk and deeply inhaled, and then to regain his composure each breath he slowly and audibly expelled. A woman just a few seats to his left now raised her hand and recited the sacrifices she herself had only recently made on behalf of her terminally ill mother. Soon we were all feeling good. Briefly we discussed the meaning of heroism, its motive, and the risks assumed by public servants—soldiers, police, firefighters—as their duty. Perhaps in one sense we were all like that, one student suggested, all of us potential heroes deprived only of opportunity! Our brave human circle huddled together at the warm glowing hearth of our self-esteem. How noble and religious we felt gazing up at our white board list—an altar—of all the shining abstractions for which we’d gladly give our very lives.
.......................................
WASTE to be continued
BirthingTo evoke further consideration of values, principles, ideals, commandments, precepts, and rules to live by, I devised other questions to be answered and explored in group discussion.
Children
Enlightenment
Fame
Intoxication
Joy
Knowledge
Longevity
Love
Marriage
Mirth
Orgasm
Power
Salvation
Serenity
Understanding
Wealth
Wisdom
“What would you be willing to die for?” I asked.
I started a new list on the white board at the front of the room and added to it as students raised their hands with each new suggestion. This activity excited them, and a dozen hands rose in quick succession. I had a hard time keeping up.
“Family!” was the first value mentioned.
“Friends.” Then students considered additions even more abstract.
“Country.”
“Freedom.”
“God.”
“Truth.”
But if it were necessary to choose just one value for which one would sacrifice one’s own life, then family was by consensus the clear class favorite. One young mother in row three, her lips trembling and her eyes glistening in the intensity of her love, swore that she would be willing to endure any torture for the lives and well-being of her children. Her poignant and passionate remarks inspired and evoked an outpouring of similar promises, pledges, and vows of self-sacrifice. Several of her classmates declared their own unconditional love for their children, for their wives and husbands, for parents, and for grandparents. One man stated that he would be willing to risk and if need be to sacrifice his own life for any child in danger, not just for his own son. To this several students nodded and murmured in approval and assent.
“Any decent human being would do the same!” the man declared.
He sounded angry now, at the thought, I assumed, of the indecent and selfish cowards unwilling to accept this challenge; and then, trapped awkwardly between his romantic idea of himself and his contempt for men less noble and brave, he lost control of his emotion, he trembled, and for a moment I thought he might cry. He looked down at his desk and deeply inhaled, and then to regain his composure each breath he slowly and audibly expelled. A woman just a few seats to his left now raised her hand and recited the sacrifices she herself had only recently made on behalf of her terminally ill mother. Soon we were all feeling good. Briefly we discussed the meaning of heroism, its motive, and the risks assumed by public servants—soldiers, police, firefighters—as their duty. Perhaps in one sense we were all like that, one student suggested, all of us potential heroes deprived only of opportunity! Our brave human circle huddled together at the warm glowing hearth of our self-esteem. How noble and religious we felt gazing up at our white board list—an altar—of all the shining abstractions for which we’d gladly give our very lives.
.......................................
WASTE to be continued
