ShareThisThe Creator's commandment to love others as we love ourselves is, unfortunately not self-fulfilling. More often than not it is honored in the breach.
Yet all of are aware of the existence of some persons who truly care for everyone, even to the point of sacrificing themselves for the good of strangers. How would it be if we could breed benevolence into members of future generations?
For Christians, Jesus of Nazareth stands as the model of unconditional love, feeding and healing the needy, and forgiving his oppressors. "Greater love than this no man has," he said, than to give his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
Cynics dismiss such selfless people as meddlesome do-gooders, claiming that their behavior is selfish at heart, and suspecting a hidden motive -- that they behave as they do because it makes them feel good about themselves.
Even if we agree that the best of good deeds has mixed motives, wouldn't it be useful to encourage people to act kindly and to increase the numbers of those who are capable of such unconditional love?
Wouldn't it be especially helpful to be able to rely on soldiers, policemen, and civil servants to be Good Samaritans, laying their lives on the line for everyone in need?
Bringing it even closer to home, wouldn't it be wonderful for married couples to know they can count on their spouses to be true to their vows -- for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do them part?
These are not idle questions. Only recently, scientists have discovered that unconditional love emerges from the interplay of seven distinct areas of the brain. Researchers were surprised that there is only a modest inter-lap between these cerebral impulses with those that account for romantic and sexual love. True love, it appears, originates elsewhere in the brain.
Montreal University neurophysiologist Mario Beauregard, who leads the brain study, calls unconditional love one of the highest expressions of spirituality.
"Nothing has been known regarding its neural underpinnings until now," he says.
With further study it might be feasible to manipulate genes prior to birth to produce a new generation of men and women who are capable of feeling unconditional love and who act on it.
If such a far-fetched idea is a possibility, how many parents would want their children to be more benevolent than they are themselves? Moreover, might not many parents worry that breeding benevolent children would condemn their offspring to being pushovers in our competitive society, sacrificing themselves to bullies?
Pacifists have always faced this dilemma: How can people devote their lives to non-violence without being victimized by the violent?
My guess is that most of us would like our children to be benevolent Good Samaritans, but not martyrs to the cause of unconditional love.
(David Yount's latest book is "Celebrating the Single Life: Keys to Successful Living on Your Own" (Praeger). He answers readers at P.O. Box 2758, Woodbridge, VA 22195 and dyount31@verizon.net.)
AMAZING GRACE
