I'm sure that my dog's love is based on the fact that I have been his caregiver for as long as he's been alive. I feed him, give him excercise, treats, pats, etc. He looks to me for his survival. But it's still love.
-Breck
unconditional love
by John Doe 45 Replies latest jw friends
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John Doe
Whatever puckers your poodle there Low-Key. ;-)
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Low-Key Lysmith
Fair enough.
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cyber-sista
I think we need to invent a new terminology here for "unconditional love". Yes admittedly, my cat probably loves me because I feed her and give her pets--I suppose that is conditional love, because if I abused her she would probably have run away by now. I guess that is the same for people too. If you are nice to them and give them something that they need emotionally they will feel positively or loving towards you.
But, there is the relationship where love seems to hinge on unrealistic expectations and manipulation of others (WT style). But, that is not real love--that is about control.
I guess LOVE is LOVE: the positive expression of warm fuzzy feelings towards others, which is a benefit to all parties involved.
Lots of Love,
cybs
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greendawn
I also agree that where there is a will to control there is no love and where there is love there is no will to control.
It's obvious why there is no love in the JWs, because there are too many power freaks in that org the GB being first and foremost among them. -
mrsjones5
MrsJones5: no you don't. the "condition" is that they are your children. there is always a condition of some kind. see.
If you want to look at it that way yeah, but the way I look at it is I will love my children no matter what kind of person (except something grossly immoral) they turn out to be. I will not play one against the other. I will not put them down because they dont or wont do what I want them to do with their lives when they become adults. I will not withhold my love because they decide to have a different expression of spiritually than I. I will not disown them if they marry outside of their "race". I will not deny them my love if they discover that they have a different sexual orientation that I.When I say I love my children unconditionally I mean I love my kids without the conditions that my parents have when they declare that they love me - which to this day I dont believe. When I tell my kids I love them, they believe me.
Josie
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Vivamus
Unconditional love exists. However, it is rare. I believe my mum loves me unconditionally, and I love her the same way. My father and I do not share that love. Many bonds that I believed were unbreakable have been broken because of some act or lack of action from another. Even the bests of friendships are not unconditonal, since things are expected. When expectations are not met, the bonds of friendship can be strung too tight for it to hold.
Btw, my cats love me too, they tell me every morning, right before they demand food
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Oroborus21
Low-key,
setting the Anthropomorphism aside, you listed yourself the reasons aka conditions why your dog "loves" you.
If you doubt these conditions just try not feeding him, caring for him, stroking him, etc. and see how much he will love you after a while.
It's anything but "unconditional love."
No one has yet to give a real example of unconditional love. The closest thing is natural familial love that stems from relationships, the very condition of being related to each other - Mother-child, father-child, sibling-sibling, etc. all conditioned upon a relationship existing.
Moreover what is "love?" Is it emotion, action, a mere biochemical construct in our brain, a spiritual quality or some or all of these? The answer you choose will likely determine how much "condition" there must be to have it.
-Eduardo
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SandyU
I know there is unconditional love. Just because someone you love does something horrible does not change the fact that you love them. if my son were to grow up and be a sreial killer, I would still love him, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't think he deserved punishment. Or anyone else I've come to care about, sometimes people do bad things, you can still love them without having to approve of their actions.
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jaffacake
If I understand Scriptures correctly, and I don't just include Hebrew or Christian Scriptures, but my very limited understanding of other world faiths too... Ideals, such as unconditional love, are something to aspire to - life goals - not something we humans can expect just to have or to give.
So it is not a question of whether some people love unconditionally, it is more about how better the world would be if this was even our goal. Just my clumsy two-penneth.