Unselfishness vs. Love In his sermon The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis presents his account of the nature of human desire and its fulfillment through the promises of Scripture. Lewis begins by stating that in his time good men believe the highest of virtues to be Unselfishness, but if you asked ancient Christians the very same question, they would answer Love. Where has this misconnect occurred? Why has a negative term been substituted for a positive? This idea of unselfishness carries with it a notion that instead of helping others live a good life, we should simply abstain from these actions for ourselves. This is not the Christian virtue of love that is to value one another. The modern belief is that if someone is of value to you than you are acting selfishly. Lewis explains that this can’t be possible because if one really cares for someone then that other person is valued based on what value they give to one self. Abstaining from this value process is not a …show more content…
Truly valuing someone means that you see something actual valuable about him or her and you can only do that if you value those same things. If one can’t find true value in humans who are created in the image of God, then one’s value system is messed up and should focus on having stronger values and not allow the moral equivalent of “mud-pies” to consume internal desires. At this point the thought arose, Why have modern Christians turned this virtue of Love into one of Unselfishness? Really focusing on this idea of improper love led to the conclusion that one cannot actively think about his or her values when one refuses to think about them and takes the path of unselfishness. You must order your true values to find proper values in others, which then leads to the true act of Love as explained in
Debate According to the dictionary a pacifist is a person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable. C.S. Lewis claimed not to be one in The Weight of Glory. He said that "The main contention urged as fact by Pacifists Lewis claimed that humans decide what is good and what is evil by their conscience. But, he argued that a person's conscience can be modified by argument.
In William Tyndale’s translation of 1 Corinthians 13, he favored the term “love” over the term “charity,” starting with the sentence “And though I bestowed all my goods to feed the poor… and yet had no love, it profiteth me nothing” (Greenblatt 389). This was a controversial choice on Tyndale’s part for various reasons. “Charity” was a Catholic term used in the Douay-Rheims version and the King James version of the Bible, and was thought to be a gesture “toward the religious doctrine of ‘works,’ against the Protestant insistence on salvation by faith alone” (Greenblatt 388). Professor Morna Hooker from the University of Cambridge does an analysis of Tyndale’s choice of “love” over “charity” in her lecture “Tyndale as Translator.”
In the novel More Joy in Heaven by Morley Callaghan, Kip Caley has a taste of what being a free man is like. Upon release, he wants to lead a quiet life, mind his own business and live a righteous law-abiding life. However, after being in prison and coming accustom to society and the powers of the public eye it might be too much for him. The mix of love, friendship and his want for acceptance from his family and friends is too great for him. The pressure from society is too much and the fallout of Kip is ultimately his own fault along with Judge Ford for rejecting him as well as, Foley his only friend and not believing in him how Kip needed.
Glory The movie Glory is a story about white and black soldiers who are in the North fighting for slavery against slavery in the South and them learning how to love one another. It tells about the different privileges that the white soldiers had as opposed to the black soldiers and what they all had to go through during the war times. There were many racial conflicts that these soldiers had to go through and many people were prejudiced against the 54th regiment because they all had different colored skin. Back then many white people were used to people with different colored skin working as slaves.
In the film Glory directed by Edward Zwick, the Civil War is portrayed through the eyes of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment, which was composed of African American men fighting against the Confederates for freedom. The commander of this regiment, Robert Shaw, was born into an abolitionist family and accepted the role of the first all-black regiment in the Northeast, despite the potential threats of the South. The movie focuses on four black soldiers and their experiences during the war as well as their relationships with their fellow soldiers and commanders, including Shaw. Throughout the movie, Shaw’s perspective is also seen and the conflicting emotions he felt are demonstrated by the choices he is forced to make. While some may argue
One value I strongly believe in, that hardly exists any more, is appreciation. For example, law enforcement personnel seem to have targets on their backs. Yes there are some bad cops, but why treat every cop like a bad cop with no reason behind it other than the
Being selfish is only part of who we are and what we need to flourish according to virtue ethicists; Aristotle,
But actually, it is a very brilliant and basic principle to uphold. If a person were to go around being formidable and uncivil, most likely they would not receive any kind of positive attention from anyone but people just as discourteous as they are. Another phrase that seems redundant is “You must learn to love yourself before you can love others.” That is another good principle that is often taken for granted ad nauseum. In Native American culture, you must love yourself and everything else in creation to truly achieve wicozani which means wealth by living a life in mental and physical harmony with the world.
What is selflessness? The definition- Selfless is the opposite of selfish. If you're selfless, you think less about yourself, and more about others — you're generous and kind. So many amazing characters and people are selfless. Without even knowing it, anyone no matter how big or small the act can make a difference in a person’s life for the better.
Selfishness and selflessness can be balanced, and this balance is crucial to a functioning
To be selfless is to make sure the needs of others is put before your needs. Beowulf the Angelo-Saxon hero, made sure the safety of the Danes came before his. He put his life on the line just to fight off the monsters or dragons that made the lives of others miserable. In part two, Beowulf fights off the dragon but he dies after killing the dragon, his last words were to Wiglaf, he told him to take care of his people. The soldiers leave their home and families to fight for our country and our freedom.
All is Not Fair in Love and War First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is wrong for allowing his infatuation with a girl named Martha to distract him from the Vietnam war and his responsibilities as a lieutenant. Throughout the story, Cross’ thoughts are constantly focused on Martha instead of the war or the men he is charged with leading and ultimately protecting. Because of Cross’ clouded thoughts and poor leadership, Ted Lavender, a soldier in his platoon, is shot and killed.
To love is to risk. Whether that is risking life, belief, health, or reputation, it is still a risk at any rate to give devotion to another. No era in history knows this better than during the Holocaust. Still, the most unexpected of people would die trying to help Jews escape persecution, they would help others who didn't share the same moral foundation as they did, they would share food rations when they barely had enough for themselves, or they would risk their public standing and forever be labeled as a sympathizer just to help a suffering soul regain his balance. Similarly, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief demonstrates a complete comprehension of how humans act against self preservation and individual comfort when challenged with harrowing situations that appeal to their own personal connections.
Values are those things worth fighting for, and those things worth sacrificing
Joseph Campbell once said, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself”. Beowulf is a hero who helped Hrothgar and Hrothgar’s towns people by defeating Grendel and Grendel’s mother. Harry Potter is a hero when he protects his friends and Hogwarts. Beowulf and Harry Potter have similarities and differences so their values teach the reader about society. Having values is important in our society for many reasons.