COMPASSION & EMPATHY,
THE BURNING TURTLE
(Sept. 2014, Revised 2024)
In 2014, I
saw a disturbing video in the news. It was a beautiful
turtle being burned alive. Two teenage girls thought it
would be funny if they posted, in the Internet, a video
of the turtle being burned alive. What a horrible and
evil thing to do. Don't these girls know how painful
that is? Don't they have any compassion or empathy? What
will happen when these girls become mothers? If they
ever become mothers. What will they do, or teach, to
their children.
When I was in Vietnam, I saw something similar. A
beautiful bird had been set on fire by a soldier. I was
not able to reach the scene on time to save the bird.
And I wondered if it was the war that made that soldier
loose his compassion and empathy. However, these teenage
girls have never been in a war. So what has turned them
into psychopaths?
I do not know if they were punished, or they received
psychiatric help. They should have been studied by
neuroscientists and/or psychologists. It is important to
find out why they have not developed (or learned)
compassion and empathy. Was it a failure of the
educational system? Their religion? Their parents?
Parents! Teach your children what compassion and
empathy is. Don't expect that they will learn it in
school or in church. I believe that some of us are born
with the ability to feel compassion and
empathy, not only for humans, but also for other
animals. However, there are some humans who have to be
taught about good, evil, compassion, empathy, etc.
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