Conquering Cruelty

This past weekend, I attended a conference on animal welfare. Near the end of the day, a fellow attendee confessed to me that she was tired and discouraged. She had spent the weekend viewing acts of extraordinary human cruelty against animals, and despite the efforts of so many compassionate advocates, she couldn’t imagine that behavior changing in her lifetime.

Her despair reminded me of Larry King’s interview with Ingrid Betancourt, who was recently released after being held as a hostage for seven years in the Colombian jungle. When asked to name the worst thing she had to endure, Betancourt didn’t mention a particular torture tactic, or the long years apart from her family, or the effects of a failed escape attempt. After a long, thoughtful silence, she said the worst thing was “realizing that ... human beings can be so horrible to other human beings.”

Being confronted with the human capacity for cruelty can shake our faith to its core. We recognize that there are limits to our reasoned arguments, our pleas for mercy. When we hit the wall of ultimate indifference, we can only look to ourselves for redemption. Our choice is to surrender, to believe that hatred conquers all, or to affirm a more powerful force that elevates all humanity.

Betancourt has triumphed; against all odds, she has already resolved to forgive her captors. In doing so, she reclaims her power. I hope my fellow animal advocate can redirect her energies from anger against those who do harm, to the larger mission of caring for our fellow creatures. Her heart is greater than the conflict at hand, and the innocents need all of its might.