Monday, February 23, 2009

What is up with etiquette? We had a facet on selfishness in Bible, and they used the example "do you rush to grab the last cookie on the plate?". The thing is, since so much of our system of manners is built on selfish-unselfishness (read Screwtape), it doesn't work like that. Asking if anybody else wants the last cookie virtually guarantees that they'll refuse. Saying you don't really want to do something but are willing to out of "unselfishness" virtually guarantees that you won't have to do it.

People are so often so fake. At one point in time, probably when manners were "invented" people actually were unselfish about those things. People were probably honest enough so that when they were asked if they wanted the last cookie, they actually said yes. People aren't honest now. Everywhere there are lies, to make ourselves look good, to make others look bad. At some level, everybody knows that its a lie, they know that you're not being honest. They've just come to expect dishonesty because that's what they've always heard. Where did honesty go?

No comments:

Post a Comment