Martyrs

I am fond of this quote. It is from a book titled 'Masochism' by Lyn Cowan. She takes a Jungian perspective on this topic:

".....Martyrs tend to see their situation simply: their suffering has been unjustly imposed on them by persons and forces from the outside. This superficiality of self-pity blocks genuine compassion. Their attitude is self-righteous and self-centered. Only through heroic tolerance and false humility do they feel able to bear up under the mysteriously unfair things that keep happening." 
"Martyrs do not accept the experience of suffering. They actually avoid it by using their apparent victimization as ego ammunition. Martyrs are too proud of their suffering, too manipulative about their righteousness, to suffer humiliation. Thus martyrs are possessed by literalisms and projections. Their suffering finds its primary meaning as proof of their victimization. This is an oppressively empty view, one that lacks metaphorical resonance and a sense of intrapsychic reality."

I write this in juxtaposition to my entry from yesterday. This is a situation where basic suffering is viewed as an imposition from the outside. As the Buddhists say, suffering is simply part of the human condition. we are born, we get old, we get sick, we die. There is suffering at all these stages. This is not an imposition, contrary to what the martyr thinks.

In this context of martyrdom, think about some of the extremist pundits that are in the media. They are humorless, compassionless, and certainly falsely humble, which is often humble-less. Self-righteous is a given, as is self-centered.

Finally there is the idea of metaphorical resonance or rather the lack thereof. Do any of these radical right pundits catch your excitement in terms of sparking your imagination with wonderful ideas and vision?

Image is of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon