Ponderings

[3rdragon]

There was a story on NPR this morning about pet health insurance.

I would like to say that I love animals. They make our lives immeasurably better in so many ways. There is a cat in Philadelphia who will leave me heartbroken when he dies.

That said, I'm really not sure about pet health insurance. Yes, in my perfect world, no animal would be put down for medical issues that could be easily treated. But I have difficulty countenancing giving a level of medical security to our pets that we can't guarantee to our citizens.

Thoughts?


On other moral issues:
-I believe that, as a Christian, I should love my neighbor.
-I also believe that, as a Christian, I should not lie (less obvious, but I take a certain bible verse to mean that I should not swear to tell the truth and I affirm that I am telling the truth instead, which to me implies that I've been telling the truth this whole time.

Most of you are aware that I have a history of not getting along with my ex-next-door-neighbor A.
I saw her in the dining hall yesterday, and we smiled and waved and generally behaved like we liked each other.

I do not like her.

So here's the question:
Is it better to lie by my actions and have the outward appearance of loving my neighbor?
Or to be honest and not like her at all.

Clearly the best option is to actually like her, but I'm not that far yet.

Comments

[relique.livejournal.com]

I agree. I would also add "fake it til you make it"-- in this context: you did not like her, among other reasons, because she did not respect your rights and desires. Now, I'm not suggested you move next to her again, but you do share a campus, and it's nice that she can at least be respectful enough to share a campus with you. And it's perfectly reasonable to respond to general pleasantries with a reaction that rewards that (very basic) kind of respect. And if the two of you figure out how to share a campus with each other, you might later learn how to share a building, dining hall, or table with each other, even if you never get to "hall" or "wall".

Loving your neighbor is sometimes a process. Being nice to her very well may make it easier to FEEL nice about her. Or it might not. But at least you're trying, at least you're engaging in the process.