Collectivism

Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral, political, or social outlook, that stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of separate individuals. Collectivists focus on community and society, and seek to give priority to group goals over individual goals. The philosophical underpinnings of collectivism are often related to holism or organicism - the view that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Specifically, a society as a whole can be seen as having more meaning or value than the separate individuals that make up that society. (Wikipedia)

I agree with this line of thought. Think about a society on a much smaller scale, your family. What's more important? That you or your husband or your children are happy or that the whole is happy? I know that means compromise and someone not being happy 100% of the time but the goal is to make sure that everyone is happy. I've seen the Nanny 911 shows where from the outside the kids are having a ball because they rule the roost but when you delve deeper, the whole family is miserable so what has to happen for happiness? The parents have to stand up and consistently work on the kids setting boundaries, following through, etc. And the kids? They are just generally unhappy because while their little minds crave boundaries, having to actually live in them is another story. So what's better for the family? Thinking only of yourself and being miserable or thinking of others and being happy? I would think that's a no-brainer but obviously after watching SuperNanny and Nanny 911 and shows like that, today's family has not one clue how to do that. How to put others above themselves. It's that verse again, isn't it?!?

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Philippians 2:3-4

I belong to a public group who interacts through a message board and one of those message boards is called Hot Topics. The kind of topics that will create a debate and once I discovered that place, I was hooked!! I love debating! I love getting the different insights into different topics and the topic that brought about this whole entry on my blog was about legalizing prostitution. I was just going through in my mind the reasons people had for legalizing it and I came to this conclusion, if we treat people as bodies or entities then we don't have to worry about their soul. And for right now, I'm not talking about the soul that needs to turn to Jesus, I'm talking about the flame that makes us who we are. Yes, by all means let's legalize prostitution and let's let generations of women know that we don't care what they do to their bodies, our job is to only make sure they are disease free. We don't care about the spirit. What about abortion? That's another spirit killer that we've legalized. Thousands of women every day go and abort their children because all we care about is that it's their body and their choice. We don't care that they are cutting out a piece of their heart that they may never get back. We have to care about others because they don't care about themselves!! Don't you think that's why Jesus went to the woman by the well? Who else was going to talk to her about Him? What about the woman who was going to be stoned? Jesus came to her because NO ONE else would have. We have to put others above ourselves. We have to try to take care of the ones who can't take care of themselves.

I know it's so hard to do that but you know, small steps lead to bigger steps. I took a small step yesterday and I didn't do it so I could point out what a great Christian wife I was, I did it because that's what my God wanted me to do.

Okay, I think this post is getting away from me because I can't gather my thoughts anymore, they've splintered off into 20 different directions and I've noticed that the more I get into God's word, that that's what happens!