Young Show the True Meaning of Sacrifice
Published in The Universe
(November 17, 2002)
Many readers wrote in
response to my comments about love and sacrifice. It is encouraging to
hear that so many share these ideals and strive for them and encourage
others to do so.
However one reader
wrote. "I was surprised to read a line from a child advocate like
you saying that children should be taught to give love rather than
receive love. My answer to this is: Kids should expect love. Every child
born on this earth should expect it. This is what makes a child grow
into a normal functioning
member of a society. A child who does not feel loved cannot
possibly give true love".
I replied .The article
is not about little
children, who are of course in need of love and ought to receive it as a
right. But teenagers and
adults have different ideas and practices in some parts of society. The
article is referring more to adults as well as teenagers especially
those who are influenced by the modern world
where love is equated with self-indulgence, pleasure seeking, and
what passes for love
is based on greed, commercialism and selfishness.
Sexual promiscuity and
self-gratification is mistaken for love . So teenagers have
irresponsible sex for self-gratification without thinking of the
children
that results and then they resort to abortion to avoid
responsibility. Others have the children but are unable to care or love
them and there is no father around , abandonment is usual and single
parents are left to do it all and they can't cope.
The teenagers I see here
(in the Philippines) who are involved with social commitments; helping
the poor, working for a
change in the evil parts of society and doing this instead of getting
stoned on disco mania and drugs are an inspiration. This is their choice
to 'give-up' on the hip-hop culture of self-gratification of alcohol and
self seeking and to think of others first before themselves. These are
the young people who
will change the world. It
is to this civic mined youth that 'sacrifice' is a strong virtue
of social commitment and active participation in political and
social change.
The article does
not subscribe to the
interpretation that you read into the article. in your quote you equate,
incorrectly, endured
suffering with sacrifice
for others. No one supports abuse of any kind. The child
of course has a 'Right' to be nurtured and cared for. We advocate
these rights everyday. But
selfishness and pleasure seeking
deprives the children of this right, parents too often abandon their
families because of pleasure seeking
What you confuse is
that old Church approach that you describe ,"endure
all hardship and injustice because you will then have a reward in
the afterlife". We totally
repudiate that. We
always advocate empowerment
of women and children to be able to stand for their rights and we
empower others to stand with them.
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But standing with the
poor and the oppressed is
dangerous and we have been threatened so many times for our stand for
justice. This is what 'sacrifice', means. -
taking risks for others when they cant repay us. It is the young
people in our youth groups who
are dedicated to these
ideals. They are an inspiration and they will be the first to tell that
service to others in need
is what comes first in their lives.
When we have young
volunteers here at PREDA I
see them grow in strength and character and they are inspiring
because they are doing
things that is rare nowadays,
giving up worldly
pleasures to help the poor and the oppressed.
They sacrifice pleasure in sensual things to have the joy of being
with the poor and there they find fulfillment rather than in the pursuit
of money, prestige, social status and self-gratification.
You are correct of course
in expecting parents to love their children for themselves but ,that is
natural
yet an
expectation that is not always fulfilled . The very selfish only have
the child during pleasure seeking sex , not intending to have a child
for the founding of a family to nurture and love. In the world
there are millions
of children abandoned because these important values
have been lost .
