All human beings are in truth akin;
All in creation share one origin.
When fate allots a member pangs and pains,
No ease for other members then remains.
If, unperturbed, another's grief canst scan,
Thou are not worthy of the name of man.
Sa'adi
For the hundreds of thousands of years that we've been human, society has been based on reciprocity, mutual respect, cooperation, adherence to rules, protection of the vulnerable, shared values, collective responsibility, and a large measure of trust. Cruelty negates all of the above. Cruelty is a spear through the heart of human culture, an axe to the back of philosophy's neck, a sword that cuts society off at the knees. Cruelty unchallenged in our midst threatens the very foundation of our existence. There is a sound reason why for thousands of years cruelty has been a sin in every religion and ethical system, why crimes committed with "wanton cruelty" are universally condemned, why "cruel" rulers are remembered with hatred for centuries, even millenia.
Today we live in a global society and increasingly realize that we are all related and interdependent. It follows that we must extend universal human social principles and rules to everyone alike. Therefore, cruelty must be condemned wherever it occurs, from the smallest scale (torturing frogs) to the largest (nuclear weapons), and without exception. And that gets us back to the original question: what must we do when individuals and whole societies allow, commit, or even promote cruelty?
Can an individual who condones cruelty ever be allowed . . .
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