Self-righteousness feeds and fans fanaticism, extremism

What we are witnessing in the current trend towards anarchy is people who are angry and disgruntled that they have been wronged.

There is a basic difference in motivation between righteous indignation against injustice and self-righteousness.

When people see themselves as being morally superior to others, they become self-righteous and see a need to condemn or even destroy others.

Self-righteousness feeds and fans religious fanaticism and ideological extremism.

The chaos that is in the world today, carnage and cruelty, are manifestations of self-righteousness rearing its ugly head.

As long as a person remains self-righteous, considering himself morally superior or already doing all the right things, and not having any moral defects or deficiencies, he would be self-satisfied in his own moral accomplishment.

Such a person, therefore, has no need for genuine righteousness and goodness, which is compassionate, merciful and forgiving.

It takes humility to experience and express these pro-social attributes. But in a materialistic culture that values things more than people, it is competition, not collaboration, that rules.

Thomas Lee Hock Seng (Dr)

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