a story;
梁惠王曰：「寡人之於國也，盡心焉耳矣。河內兇，則移其民於河東，移其粟於河內。河東兇亦然。察鄰國之政，無如寡人之用心者。鄰國之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也？」孟子對曰：「王好戰，請以戰喻。填然鼓之，兵刃既接，棄甲曳兵而走。或百步而後止，或五十步而後止。以五十步笑百步，則何如？」曰：「不可，直不百步耳，是亦走也。」
King Liang Hui said, "I do my best as a ruler; when there was a famine in Henei, I shifted the people I could to Hedong, and allocated more grains to Henei. Likewise, I did the same when there was a famine in Hedong. I looked at what my neighbouring countries were doing; none of the rulers were as thoughtful as me. Even so, the populations of my neighbouring countries are not decreasing, and the number of people in my country isn't increasing, either. Why is that so?"
Mencius replied, "Since Your Majesty likes the battlefield, I'll use a military analogy. When the drums roll and the armies clash, there will be some soldiers who retreat. Some retreat a hundred steps, while others retreat fifty. Now, what do you think of those who retreated fifty steps and derided those who retreated a hundred?" The king said, "They are in no position to do so because even if you hesitate and do not retreat a full hundred steps, you are still considered as having retreated."
I don't usually tell stories, but someone posted a link to the original text on linguaphiles today and it caught my eye. The lesson here is that you cannot judge other people on account of them being less virtuous than you; the king's famine policy are measures of necessity, not benevolence: to do so does not excuse the king of the errors he has made against his people, or of the shortcomings that he has as a ruler.
It's Good Friday, so it's worth putting this in context: just as we can't laugh at those who have retreated further than us if we have retreated ourselves, we cannot demean those who have sinned when we have sinned ourselves. The question that Good Friday poses to us is not just, "What do you feel about Jesus dying on the cross for your sins?" but more importantly, "Are you able to do what Jesus did?" Jesus is not a person exclusive to Christianity: Jesus transcends Christianity, a timeless, everlasting embodiment of what it means to love unconditionally. If you have ever wrinkled your nose at someone whose actions you disapprove; if you have ever judged someone's personality and character purely on account of his race or religion; if you have ever demeaningly called someone a faggot, a slut, a whore, then you have not yet learnt what it means to love unconditionally. We are all sinners.
King Liang Hui said, "I do my best as a ruler; when there was a famine in Henei, I shifted the people I could to Hedong, and allocated more grains to Henei. Likewise, I did the same when there was a famine in Hedong. I looked at what my neighbouring countries were doing; none of the rulers were as thoughtful as me. Even so, the populations of my neighbouring countries are not decreasing, and the number of people in my country isn't increasing, either. Why is that so?"
Mencius replied, "Since Your Majesty likes the battlefield, I'll use a military analogy. When the drums roll and the armies clash, there will be some soldiers who retreat. Some retreat a hundred steps, while others retreat fifty. Now, what do you think of those who retreated fifty steps and derided those who retreated a hundred?" The king said, "They are in no position to do so because even if you hesitate and do not retreat a full hundred steps, you are still considered as having retreated."
I don't usually tell stories, but someone posted a link to the original text on linguaphiles today and it caught my eye. The lesson here is that you cannot judge other people on account of them being less virtuous than you; the king's famine policy are measures of necessity, not benevolence: to do so does not excuse the king of the errors he has made against his people, or of the shortcomings that he has as a ruler.
It's Good Friday, so it's worth putting this in context: just as we can't laugh at those who have retreated further than us if we have retreated ourselves, we cannot demean those who have sinned when we have sinned ourselves. The question that Good Friday poses to us is not just, "What do you feel about Jesus dying on the cross for your sins?" but more importantly, "Are you able to do what Jesus did?" Jesus is not a person exclusive to Christianity: Jesus transcends Christianity, a timeless, everlasting embodiment of what it means to love unconditionally. If you have ever wrinkled your nose at someone whose actions you disapprove; if you have ever judged someone's personality and character purely on account of his race or religion; if you have ever demeaningly called someone a faggot, a slut, a whore, then you have not yet learnt what it means to love unconditionally. We are all sinners.