The word compassio , from late Latin, came to Spanish as compassion . The term is used with reference to the feeling that a person has when they identify with the suffering of a third party and experience sadness and tenderness because of it.
Compassion is linked to empathy : the subject is capable of perceiving and understanding that a third party is wrong. In this situation, the intention arises in him to help others so that their pain is relieved or eliminated. That is why compassion is also related to solidarity .
It can be said that, through compassion, you share another person's suffering . Religions usually ask their followers not to remain with passive compassion, which is limited to feeling sorry for the other, but rather invite them to adopt an active position to reverse the situation through supportive support.
Suppose a woman is walking through her neighborhood when she sees an old man begging for alms . The woman feels compassion, approaches the man and invites him to lunch . Then he gives her money so she can buy food for dinner. As can be seen, in this case compassion led to an act of solidarity that contributed to mitigating the elderly man's problems.
Compassion can also be experienced towards animals . If a young person detects that, at the top of a tree, there is a cat that meows because it cannot climb down on its own, he may experience compassion. In this way he returns to his house to look for a ladder, then goes to the tree and climbs to rescue the cat in question.
Precisely, veganism is based on compassion for animals, in addition to the idea that we all have the same rights to live in freedom, regardless of our species, race or any other property that threatens to label us. Compassion is not always resolved in an afternoon, looking for a ladder to rescue an animal in trouble, but it can become a "lifestyle", or the energy that enhances the daily lives of those who never stop looking. out his window to avoid harming others with his actions.
Vegans do not eat or use any products made from animal exploitation, and this includes clothing, medicines and cosmetics. This decision arises from compassion, which is often awakened by exposure to a story of cruelty or a documentary that shows the suffering of animals in slaughterhouses, but is maintained throughout life without the need to return to these misfortunes.
In a world in which compassion was the norm, discrimination of any kind would not exist, since no one would feel threatened by differences , but rather they would arouse interest and would be able to put themselves in the shoes of others regardless of cultural issues. or racial. It would no longer be necessary to celebrate the act of kindness of someone who takes a risk to save a stranger in a catastrophe, because we would all feel the need to get involved in pursuit of the common good.
It is very likely that compassion is found in all human beings, as a trait designed to collaborate with natural balance . Before our species proclaimed itself the most important on the planet, it had to use its natural tools to defend itself and feed itself; Surely, our most remote ancestors felt compassion more often for beings of other species than us, since they did not have the walls of arrogance that support ideas like "we are the most intelligent, the only ones capable of loving," etc.