Recently at City of God, in an article about how political sides are chosen, the author cited this article by John Haidt, explaining where our moral imperatives (things like justice, respect, loyalty) could possibly come from, via the evolutionary mechanism. Though I think this (evolution) can be a quite shaky platform to build any sort of epistemic or moral system on (and though it can often be an intellectual cop-out), the article was rather interesting. One statement just jumped out at me:

“..to explain why we don’t like to see suffering and often care for people who are not our children”

It is interesting that, globally and throughout history, people have extended care to others, unwarranted and undeserved.

An interesting explanation can be found in I and Thou, by Martin Buber. In this masterwork he outlines what the relation between humans should be, but what it (sadly) often is. He uses three short words to accomplish this objective: I, You, It.

How we should relate to each other, is seen in the I-You relation (this is also how we are to relate to God). It is, in the simplest terms, the purity of the relation of Being. No adjectives, no categories, no goals or agendas or conquests. However, what we are most used to is the I-It modality, in which we experience everything in objectified, codified terms.

What does this have to do with care? Well, I think the obligation so many of us feel at times, happens when the “I” in me sees the “I” in you. That is, when spirit speaks to spirit and we realize that something foundational is shared; that we extend into each other, somehow. We are often too self-involved to really tune in to this groaning within us, but it is this, our shared Being (the fact that we Are, that we are Human, and that we are grounded existentially in God), that compels even the most wicked to, at times, become capable of great acts of care.