are human beings only "nothing butteries?"

Submitted by Lactantius Jr (United Kingdom), Jun 3, 2009 at 05:19

To Stuart Parsons

Responding to Mohammad Waqas Raja, you ask him "Why not give it up and become a compassionate, feeling, human being, concerned about the well-being of ALL your fellow men, from wherever they might be," to which I ask, why be compassionate, feeling, and concerned about the well-being of fellow human beings, if, as philosopher C.E.M. Joad (1891-1953) said, they are only "nothing butteries?"

"a human being is nothing but enough fat for seven bars of soap, nothing but enough iron for a medium sized nail, nothing but enough sugar to sweeten 7 cups of tea, nothing but enough lime to whitewash a chicken coop, nothing but enough Sulphur to rid a dog of fleas, nothing but enough Phosphorus to tip 2,200 matches, nothing but enough Magnesiun for a dose of salts, and nothing but enough Potash to explode a toy crane."

That might describe the substances, which are contained in the human body, but it is not very flattering, is it? and if this is all we are, and if we come from nothing and are going nowhere, then nothing in between matters, and there is no reason why we should behave in one way rather than in another, being "compassionate, feeling and concerned" about other "nothing butteries"or is there?

With kind regards and best wishes

Lactantius Jr

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