unconditional love

by John Doe 45 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  yesidid

  If you really love someone you don't try to control them--you respect their differences and enjoy them for who they are

  Must agree with that. The dictionary says:

  unconditional
  adj 1: not conditional; "unconditional surrender" [ant:
  conditional
  ] 2: not modified or restricted by reservations;
  
  That means you put no conditions on your love. Sooooooooooooo if you love someone unconditionaly,it means they can lie, mislead, deceive, betray, cheat, steal, shun, hit, mutilate, disfigure, and rape you and or loved ones, such as your mother, your mate, your children or grandchildren, and you would still love them.
  As soon as one of those things would stop you from loving a person you have put a condition on your love. It is no longer unconditional.
• 

  Oroborus21

  yeah me too. it is a myth.

  MrsJones5: no you don't. the "condition" is that they are your children. there is always a condition of some kind. see.

  -Eduardo
• 

  Cady

  A dear friend once told me "there's nothing you could do that would make me love you more, and nothing you could do that would make me love you less." And I wish I could believe that - at times I almost do. The reasoning I use is that the ppl I truly love could never do things like commit rape or murder or molestation (unless mentally ill in some way) as that is just completely beyond their character. And honestly, I can't think of anyone I dearly love who would do any of those things or anyone I've loved who has done any of those things. I know some ppl will argue back that every serial-killer's mom thinks he's an angel (okay, exaggerating a bit here) so maybe the caveat should be that this doesn't apply to loving our kids (b/c that's genetic??) or to those we "love" out of codependence and therefore can't admit anything's wrong ever (seen lots of that w/moms who abandon their kids to have a guy around - hmm, there's a whole other question in light of the loving your kids thing...) c.
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Dogs love unconditionally
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  John Doe

  Dogs are incapable of love. Or, better stated, not the form of love that is the subject of this thread. Human love and animal love is different. Dogs are a social animal, which is easy to mistake for love.
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  cyber-sista

  Ok Ok....I see that there are limits to the unconditional love thing and I guess from the true meaning of the words if there are limits then it is not totally unconditional. When I speak of differences then I am speaking only of the minor ones and not the major injurious kind that would cause another harm or great pain. So there are boundaries there, but within that framework of values (which is also an individual thing) there is a little room for allowing others to be loved for who they truly are and not what we would project upon them to become. I guess the term is used rather loosely and needs to be expressed differently.much food for thought...

  cybs
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  Cady

  John, Curious how you know that about dogs... c.
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  I disagree John Doe. I know without any shred of doubt that my dog loves me.
• 

  John Doe

  But do you know what your dog's love is based on?
• 

  John Doe

  "John, Curious how you know that about dogs... c."

  I was raised on a farm, and have been around countless animals in my life. I believe myself to know their psychology fairly well. So, I guess I would say I know this by extensive observation-based hypothesis. ;-)