Mercy

He that spares the bad injures the good - Thomas Fuller

As I read A C Grayling’s The Meaning of Things: Applying Philosophy to Life, I have come to realise that everyday concepts such as mercy, courage, death, sorrow, among many others, are actually very profound concepts. Having scoffed at philosophy, how dense and block-headed I am, as a subject for people living in their own ‘airy-fairy’ worlds, Grayling’s book has given me a hint of what philosophy is about and how it can relate to daily-life concepts.

Before Grayling’s book, Jostein Gardner’s Sophie’s Worldwas the only other book which I have read on, or about, philosophy. In the strictest sense, Gardner’s work is more of an fiction offering since the premise of the novel is about using a story, and a very good one at that, to teach the reader about, the somewhat misunderstood, subject of philosophy. On the other hand, Grayling’s work comes across as more mainstream in that it explores the meaning of everyday concepts through a philopher’s looking glass.

Written in a easy to read, yet thought evoking style, Meaning of Things is a gift to the layman, like me, hoping to understand what philosophy is all about. For neandarthals like myself, it represets the first flicker of flame that has just engulfed the tinder of the mind’s campfire. The shroud of darkness has been pushed back by that little sliver of flame. I remember someone telling me once that “Darkness is the absence of light”. I am so glad that there’s finally a glimmer of light shedding some meaning on the life I am living.

One theme or chapter which caught my eye was the one on Mercy.

According to the Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, the meaning of mercy is “… if someone in authority shows mercy, they choose not to harm someone they have power over, or they forgive someone they have the right to punish“.

Having been brought up learning the importance of justice, fairness and equity, mercy did not feature high in my list of values or virtues. You can hear me saying “That guy deserves to be hanged for so-and-so (usually murder, or some other heinous infractions) crime”. My black and white view of justice allows for little or no mercy for “evil-doers”. If a person breaks the law, that person should know the consequences. The person’s right to clemency has been revoked upon the commission of the act.

Sometimes I am left bewildered by the light, which to me is – strange, sentencing meted out by our judges on criminals who deserved harsher punishment. Despite the explanations, I find it hard that anything can be highlighted as reasons for mitigation in view of the crime committed. A deep sense of indignation and disappointment would wash over me whenever a criminal manages to reduce the original sentencing to a lighter punishment. “Why are these people let off so lightly? This ain’t fair. They deserved to be punished!” Thoughts like these will run through my mind.

The a-ha, or the 7-Habit perspective changing moment, came when I read Grayling’s take on mercy. He explained that while mercy is prompted by sympathy and compassion, it is not those virtues per se. The meaning of mercy is close to its dictionary meaning. I guess my understanding of mercy has been mixed up with the word merciful, a word which appears regularly in all mainstream religions.

According to the same dictionary, merciful means “if you describe God or a person in a position of authority as merciful, you mean that they show kindness and forgiveness to people”.

Note the similarity in both the meanings of mercy and merciful in the dictionary. Somewhat alike, yet fundamentally different. Grayling’s was able to show the subtle difference between being merciful, with its attendant emphasis on kindness and forgiveness, and mercy, which is simply the act of withholding the punishment from a person who is deserving of it. With this, I understood that our view of this virtue is very much shaped by the religious context, whether Christian, Buddhist or Islamic, which we live in.

The simple 2 page discussion of mercy in Grayling’s book opened my eyes to my oft self-perceived lack of mercy. Often seeing myself as a cold-hearted, “black or white”, person, I realised that I can be merciful at times. Merciful not in the divine way, but in the way I handled people in life.

Upon reflection, an activity which I am rather poor in, I realised that I can actually be quite a merciful person. As I recall all the times when I was in a position to punish a person for a poor piece of work or lousy attitude at work, I would always give the person a second, and sometimes a third or fourth chance. A mix of empathy, sympathy and a light dose of kindness are the elements which shaped my decision(s) to be ‘merciful’.

Mercy is also evident in our daily life. We are shown mercy by people in positions of authority, be it bosses, parents, relatives, government officials, everyday. We may not see it as such, but mercy has been shown. The same reasoning applies to the so-called ‘nasty’ bosses when they stick by the book and over-punish us for minor infractions. Basically, these people have chosen not to show us mercy. Instead, these people are actually cruel. As Grayling puts it, “To punish a malefactor more severely than he deserves is cruel“.

The world just needs a little more love, and mercy too.

Superman Returns

The last 2 weeks has been fast and furious for both Mydaemon and I at the cinemas. Following our last big-screen adventure, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in Nov 2005, we have contented ourselves with catching movies via dvds on at home.

Still, nothing beats the immersive experience of the big silver screen and the oh-so-loud good, sound system. THX experience just cannot be replicated at home. To satiate our hunger for movies, we had a go at X Men-3 a few weeks back. Lots of action, pretty good special effects, but a money-grabbing lame ending. Pity. Then it was Superman Returns yesterday. Check out the official site. Pretty cool pictures and features.

I can’t really say that I am a Superman fan, having only watched Superman I and II in my primary school days. That said, Superman has always been, and still is, one of my favourite heroes. Standing for truth, justice, peace, and all things good, Superman embodies many values and beliefs which mean a lot to me. With Christopher Reeve injuring himself and passing on recently, I never thought that Superman, with his flowing red cape and chiselled good looks, would ever adorn the big screen again. Murmurs of Nicholas Cage and others being considered for the role of Superman made me cringe. Don’t get me wrong, Cage is a fine actor, but since when Superman became a balding middle-aged man. It just doesn’t click for me.

While it may not be evident, even to Mydaemon who was seated beside me during the movie, I was actually excited that Superman is back! With excitement bubbling under my calm, cool and deceptively adult exterior, I was as excited as the kid who’s getting to see his hero again. This sense of nostalgia hit me between the eyes just like that. Wham! Bam! Once again, I was the wide-eyed, wet behind the ears kid looking for a superhero to save the day. Don’t everyone just need a hero. And save the day did the ‘new’ Superman in his ‘return show’.

 

Superman Returns stars Brandon Routh (see above), who took over ably from Reeves, as the bumbling, cute, and super nice, Daily Planet reporter cum superhero, Ken Kent aka Superman. Routh possesses the same marble chiselled looks which Reeves was amply endowed with. Apart from the new spandex costume, Routh’s Superman was also a tad more humorous than the Reeves-era Superman. Can’t help but laughed out loud for some of the lines, although I was only a minority, or in actual fact, the only person other than Mydaemon, who actually found the lines humorous. Singaporeans can be so serious at times. Another thing which I found hilarious was the casting of Karl Penn aka Kumar, of the famed Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle comedy flick. That is one show which gives me the giggles whenever it plays on cable. Penn has this really goofy look. I am tickled just by looking at that guy’s face! For those who doesn’t have any idea who Penn is, he’s the Indian fella infront.

This Superman movie veers away distinctly from Superman I and II. It wouldn’t be fair for me to comment on Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace since I have yet to watch them. Superman Returns basically updates the Metropolis environment to the 21st century, where handphones, LCD monitors, plasma TVs and other hi-tech gadgets are the norm of the day. Apart from Superman’s newfound humour, Lex Luthor, wonderfully portrayed by Kevin Spacey, have become a meaner, darker, sadistic badass. I consider Spacey’s portrayal as the best I have seen so far. Gene Hackman was good, but Spacey is a class act who made Lex Luhor’s role his own. I have to applaud Spacey’s artistic versatility, evolving from the mild middle-age man who pines for his daughter’s schoolmate in American Beauty to the somewhat sadistic megalomaniac I saw in Superman Return. Kudos to a great actor.

While the action, storyline, special effects all paid tribute to what we have come to Superman for, one missing ingredient was the lack of, for want of a better word, verve, from Louis Lane. Kate Bosworth is a pretty face. But Lois Lane is not just a pretty face. She’s one hardass, pardon the language, star journalist from The Daily Planet. Bosworth portrayal of such an central character is found wanting. She lacks the gritty edge which Margot Kidder exudes in the previous Superman movies. Seeing Bosworth trying to like up a cigarettes reminded me of an A+ student from a convent school trying a cigarette for the first time. Bosworth is just too squeaky clean for me. The only time she came remotely to look like the battle-hardened Lois Lane was when she got tossed around the plane. Kidder looks the part even in black and white.

I think I will just leave you here with the picture above. A fine tribute to Christopher Reeve, the person who brought Superman alive to children, and adults alike, all over the world. Thank you, Superman.

A New Beginning

Apart from the rather cryptic post on my impending move to WordPress, it has been sometime since I last posted anything on the net. Objectively speaking, I did post something on this blog’s last incarnation on the Blogger platform. But that post was written some weeks back and I was just too busy to log in and upload it. Hopefully, none of my fellow bloggers thought I retreated from Blogosphere after some flaming by readers for my tirade piece on Ugly Singaporeans.

For those wondering why I shifted to WordPress, which I think is one of the coolest blogging platform around, read the About page and the truth will be known. And no, it has nothing to do with the flaming, which I found to be a very enlightening experience. 

Anyway, I have to thank Mydaemon for exposing me to such a wonderful thing. She has been the pillar of wisdom, love and kindness in my life. Without her, I will be a lesser person.

I am looking forward to comments from my friends who followed me via Fieldmarshal via Blogger, and any new friends I get to meet here. For friends who have linked me previously, please remember to update your links, if you do still intend to keep me as one of your links. Guess I can’t get any more open about it.

Without further ado, let the posts begin!!!