"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love."
-Sophocles
I think love is a religious concept. I'm not referring to the generic pleasure kind of love, but the selfless, unconditional love. The willingness to sacrifice everything, the complete faith and trust, the utter acceptance and support. .. these concepts are not humanly possible no matter how hard we try. We are born as selfish individuals and selfishness is the opposite of love, not hate.
Many religions teach us how to love. Through pain and suffering, we learn how to love more perfectly.
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gotta agree on this one =P
“the selfless, unconditional love”
I think we can find this love between some mothers and their children.
“Through pain and suffering, we learn how to love more perfectly.”
Have you considered that some “pain and suffering” might make one lose faith in love?
Since we are talking about religion and love I will actually for the first time quote the Bible. I don’t know why but I’ve started reading the Bible from the back so this comes from 1 Corinthians 13. (Is this how you cite the Bible?) This is the my favorite part so far.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
I’m not sure if the “concept” of love comes from religion but it does provide a good definition of love. The concept of love can exist without religion. Religion makes it clear to us what it love is through examples and stories. Love exit in all of us, or at lease I hope so, lol.
“these concepts are not humanly possible no matter how hard we try”
I think this depends on perspective. Let’s say that two people are I love and they both agree that their love for each other fits in the description of “willingness to sacrifice everything, the complete faith and trust, the utter acceptance and support.” Then it is unfair for anyone to say that their love is not perfect.
I think the concept of love that we all carry, "the selfless, unconditional love" is an ideal state that we all want to achieve some day. However, what makes it so worth working towards is no matter how hard we try, we will never actually reach the goal.
Well, I think it's because we always think that we can never reach it because we always want something better. So the comparison changes, and thus the goal seems to be always ahead of us.
So, I don't think love is really all that depressing, it's an ideal that we strive for and it gives us hope and a common dream to share.
Which, is something that we find in religion, a common goal...right? lol
Sorry, but I feel like I gotta play devil's advocate here.
Again, sorry ;)
Love is a chemical. (Adrenaline to be specific.)
Emotions, in general, are chemicals. Just ask anyone you know that has depression. The cause of their depression is most likely not a tragic event. The cause is an imbalance of chemicals.
Scientists have found a gene that predicts monogamy vs. polygamy in animals. That same gene, in humans, greatly affects how happy people are in marriage.
Scientists have done experiments showing that when people are in more dangerous/thrilling situations, they're more likely to fall in love. That is because the adrenaline rush of danger is neurologically indistinguishable from the adrenaline rush of having a crush on someone.
...
I'd also like to add that Sophocles apparently never discovered alcohol. :P
...
lol i like how jake's comments sandwhich ktao's.
here is a haiku:
love is perfect, yes
he he he ha a-oo-ga!
bea-u-tifully
v. nice haiku, choe!
Here's haiku by me.
I be free-stylin'
Just totally making up
Dis haiku. A'ight!
science and religion CAN coexist, there's no need to debunk one or the other.
and yes, having the right 'chemical reaction' does make us happier, but this kind of happiness does not last. thus i mentioned the kind of love that is not pure pleasure. 'chemistry' cannot make one give freely to the poor, the hunger, the blind, the weak... but selfless love CAN and we NEED it to solve a lot of contemporary problems in the world. chemistry is not going to make this happen! sorry mike.
but having said that, it's probably the best if we have both in a relationship ;)
Jake I love that quote. It is also my favorite passage.
lol, ktao, love is indeed chemical. But love is also commitment. One can be chemically attracted to someone else and still have a relationship breakdown based on lack of commitment.
Martin, you say: "One can be chemically attracted to someone else and still have a relationship breakdown based on lack of commitment." Are you speaking from person experience? :)
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