Compassion vs Intolerance

“No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature, has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed” Helen Keller

A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair. Abraham Joshua Heschel [New York Journal-American, April 5, 1963]

In a world where we disdain prejudice, often times intolerance takes on the form prejudice and yet considered some form of righteousness. Whenever we pound our chests and say, "see how righteous I am and how unrighteous everyone else is" , that is the very moment we are the furthest from where we should be. There is no love in a statement like that.

Compassion is perhaps when we see everyone in need of the same level of care, tolerance and of course with respect.