( Cut for the sake of those who have had poor experience with Bible-thumping hypocrites and the like. I'm not attempting to convert, only citing my sources. )I know that this is useless to most everyone who reads this, and that "turn the other cheek" has been misused and abused by so many before that it's hardly possible to take it seriously anymore. But it is what I believe. Others might let pain blind them to the humanity of others. I will not. Others might seek revenge, under that name or as "justice". I won't. It's not easy, and sometimes it seems downright impossible, but I must do it. Even the most loathsome person in existence is not worth the cost of hating them. I have no expectations of changing others with this philosophy; the purpose of it is to change
me.
So, yes, if Shiba were to come to me honestly needing my help, even without giving an apology for what she's done, I would help her. If That Man were to need help, genuinely, it would be much, much harder to do, but I would do it. Even if I needed to carry pepper spray as I did so, for comfort's sake. It can be hard to stomach, but I have done it with lesser matters, and I have seen others in this system give the benefit of the doubt where I would have thought it was useless to risk it. Maybe it was, but we are still better off for it. I could go on for too long why I believe so, but... I think it's best, at least, to take myself down a notch and admit that Bao's beloved Dhammapada probably says it most clearly:
( Hate corrupts. )For us, at least, this is the truth.