Someone I consider very wise said the following: If someone thinks they are a chicken, you are not doing them a chessed if you keep throwing corn at them to eat.
I think this is an invaluable insight. We are asked all the time to do chassadim, great and small, but many times the biggest chessed we can do is to stop and say no, we will not feed the chicken. Sustaining people's delusions even if the cost is small -- a handful of corn feed -- does not really do them a service in the long run.
Pretty much applies to how to respond to Woke Culture, the redefining of gender, the new anti-racism...
ReplyDeleteCan you be more specific about what kind of delusions you are talking about? I can guess, but would rather hear it straight.
ReplyDeleteI deliberately was not specific so that everyone can apply it as he/she sees fit.
DeleteAlthough there's that famous story of the prince who thought he was a dog so the king called in an advisor who pretended to be a dog and slowly, slowly added human behaviours in...
DeleteOnly where you can reliably parse empathy from parsimony, like with one's child.
ReplyDelete