"Trump Jr has COVID". I scanned the comments and there was an overwhelming glee that he had contracted the disease.
Now I get it, you disagree with his fathers job in the White House and personally find anything to do with Trump disdainful. BUT to be happy at another persons suffering, is beyond my understanding.
I decided to do research on what the major religions have written about taking pleasure in the suffering of others. Maybe it could be interesting to find out if this occurs in nature.
I started my Google search of "Enjoying when others are harmed" what came first was was the word "Schadenfruede", which is defined as, "enjoyment obtained from the trouble of others.". There was a study done in Princeton that showed that people are actually biologically responsive to take pleasure in the pain of others. What the hell! This is a real human condition.
The researchers found that the three driving forces were aggression, rivalry and social justice.
Aggression-based schadenfruede- Involves group identity, the other groups failure represents a validation that their group is the only correct one and others are not. Wow that really sums up the political climate of today. Reminds me of a certain German leader and racial discrimination that is still very much alive.
Rivalry-based schadenfruede- is individualistic and relates to personal competition. It helps people feel better about their personal identity and self-worth.
I related it to sport teams, the fans are happy when the opposing team loses. It makes sense when its not about an individual persons suffering and its about a group of individuals that are competing against another group for fun.
Justice-base schadenfreude- It is pleasure associated with seeing a "bad" person being harmed or receiving retribution.
"Justice served.." I understand it, but is it right?
The synonym I thought best described it was "Gloating"
So what does religion say about gloating?
Christianity & Judaism-
Proverbs 24:17-18
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the LORD see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him (the enemy)-
Buddhism-
"In whom there is no sympathy for living beings: know him as an outcast" The Buddha.
Islam-
"Deen is Empathy The Messenger of Allah said, "Do not express pleasure at the misfortune of a (Muslim) brother lets Allah should bestow mercy upon and make you suffer from a misfortune."
Hinduism-
"When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were his own, he has attained the highest stat of spiritual union." Bhagavad Gita 6.32
Since this is a human condition that we are preprogrammed to feel, selfishly I would say "If you do not have empathy for the suffering of others, Karma is a bitch!" What is Karma? Is not karma a life lesson teaching us about compassion, understanding and empathy?
So back to Jr, what life lesson would he have learned from contracting the virus? He would not learn about the suffering of the poor who cannot get medical treatment. Covid is an equal opportunity virus, it attacks with no regard to sex, race, age or economic status, maybe he thought he was not vulnerable due to his age, race or economic status.
May last research was about animals taking pleasure in the suffering of other animals. When I google the question, the first site was "Do animals have sex for pleasure". Nope I thought, "that was not what I was looking for!" I could not find anything that said they do gloat over the suffering of other animals. But I did find that they do show empathy and compassion for each other. If they do not need to be taught empathy and compassion are the enlightened?
My moral dilemma is, "Should I have empathy for those that are enjoying the suffering of others? Or gloat that punishment for their lack of empathy will be served?"
I think I know the answer...
Honestly, I do not always have empathy for person or situation, but I know I need to strive to gain understanding and compassion for any creature who is suffering.
