Humanity's Redeeming Moments

[~Master~ Button Mash 2,307]

As Mandopony says, "We're a long way from Equestria," but every now and then we do something that gets us a little bit closer, if only for a little while. A redeeming blip of light in our seemingly constantly dark history.

 

Case in point: The 1914 Christmas truce during WWI.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

 

The Christmas truce was a series of widespread, unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas 1914, during World War I. Through the week leading up to Christmas, parties of German and British soldiers began to exchange seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches; on occasion, the tension was reduced to the point that individuals would walk across to talk to their opposite numbers bearing gifts. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, many soldiers from both sides – as well as, to a lesser degree, from French units – independently ventured into "no man's land", where they mingled, exchanging food and souvenirs. As well as joint burial ceremonies, several meetings ended in carol-singing. Troops from both sides were also friendly enough to play games of football with one another.

 

The Christmas truce is one of the most inspiring and beautiful events in human history, in my opinion. A shining example that the power of friendship and love can turn the tides of war, if only for a moment. This is the real life Hearths Warming, and it's story never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

 

How about it everypony? What is your favorite moment in human history (or even a personal experience!) that reminded you of the goodness that can lie in the heart of humanity, and the inspirational moments that come when people have the strength to show it?

Edited December 23, 2012 by StratoPegasus

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

I am not a Humanist nor have I ever had faith in humanity.

We've had good moments but those I believe are due to the overriding power of Humanity's desire for good trumping their natural inclination towards evil. Playing games and foregoing conflict for the sake of a celebration is a shining example of this, especially considering it took place in the middle of armed conflict.

 

Generally events as the 'blip' you describe are on much smaller scale than one such as the Christmas Truce, which is why we all have nice memories of our lives here and there.

[butter scotch 79]

 Humanity is the greatest threat to everything but also it's best hope.

We've screwed A LOT up on Earth and as far as we know it's the only planet capable of sustaining life.

We can spread life and destroy it...

 

 I'm leaving this planet as soon as there's a habitable world!

 

 Merry Christmas...

[MelancholicMemory 2,022]

Personal experience:

In fall of 2011, I was in a terrible car crash. My puny little car was hit by a large van at 55 mph. I awoke with blood and glass everywhere, panicking like crazy. The car was eviserated. But a man from a nearby restaurant, who was a former firefighters, rushed out to save me. He got me out of there, helped me to contact my parents, and got me medical assistance. This good samaritan makes humanity look amazing.

 

I'm a big history buff so I'll probably post a lot of historical events here at some point in the future.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

There are no really LARGE scale things to be proud of.  I guess the crowning achievement was that Rome made it to where it was.  Most of the things are just small points.

[The Stranger 812]

The thing is Humanity as a whole are horrible creatures. We do nasty things to each other for the worst reasons. We seem to be getting worse and worse as the centuries pass. 

 

Even with that stated though within the darkness that is humanity their are a few of us that are different from the others. Some of us actually have loving hearts and would rather do good for each other instead of bad. I once heard about a police officer who saw a homeless man on the street and purchased shoes for this homeless man out of the good of his heart. What got me even more emotional was after the officer purchased the shoes he put the shoes on the homeless man for him since the homeless man couldn't do it himself. 

 

See it's acts of good from individuals that give me hope that some good people out in the world exist but humanity as a whole are horrible creatures.

 

I believe good exists within everyone but it's easier to be bad and harder to be good.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Mighty E.

[Evilshy 5,089]

So much misanthropy in here

 

Something that I've always loved happened in Leningrad during WWII. There's a seedbank there (a place where seeds are preserved so that crops and stuff can be regrown in the event of a famine or something), and a bunch of botanists stationed there during the siege of Leningrad. They knew how important the seeds were to the future, so even though the city was cut off, had no supplies, and people were starving to death every day, the botanists stuck around and defended the seed bank. Most of them starved to death while literally surrounded by a ton of edible grains and other seeds. The seeds survived to help replant after mass crop death in multiple countries.

[F7UC 43]

I have seen enough to lose my faith in.. Not humanity, humanity is being selfish, violent and rude in order to survive. But people doing nice things. In my country the pony fandom is really split up, the forum guys and the imageboard guys are in a perpetual war.

 

I hate humans, not one of us deserves to live. I'm sad because the world didn't end. Probably because I live in one of the most violent, criminal and drug-using place in the whole Finland.. Shit.

[Envy 6,004]

I don't know that there was ever anything in history like that for me.

 

We have not evolved enough. We still give into silly superstitions. We still give into tribalism and hate for those who are different from us. And, perhaps worst of all, we're still prone to violence. All of the time. We have to have war, and guns.

 

I don't have much faith in humanity. We make improvements... But honestly, we shouldn't have had to have made those improvements to begin with (like gaining civil rights). I hate the way people are. We need to stop being violent. We need to stop giving into superstitions. And we need to stop giving into hate for groups that are different from us. It's all very primitive. Only once these things are shed can humanity really redeem itself. Until then we're only making our way to zero from in the negatives.

 

I know it won't ever happen. Humanity will never be able to redeem itself.

 

I don't want to think about it that way, though. I still want to strive to reach out of the negatives...

Edited December 24, 2012 by Envy

[Metatora 37]

So much hate for our own species, it's sad really.

 

Sure, we mess up every now and then but we're not evil by nature, not by a long shot. To judge all of us for the actions of a few is foolish and close minded. 

 

For example, remember hurricane Katrina? How many people went to help that had no obligation to do so? Same for the two tsunami incidents in the past few years (Indonesia and Japan) 

 

We're still a young species, and we're still figuring things out. Give us another century or so and I'd be willing to bet money that we improve greatly. 

[Colt 555]

Some times people see the society as an absolute expression of human kind but I would say that we can never forget the fact that there are individuals that habe been and are able to change history by themselves and prove that human kind is much more that what the cumulus makes.

 

A man hurt by war  y every way possible raise his voice and get his freedom stolen for 30 years, humiliated, decimated as a human being, forced to lose his strength and youth under the sun against the stone. History gives him the chance to retaliate, to get them back and what he did?

 

…He forgave, he was able to overcome his nature as a man and just let it flow keeping the past in the past to built a better future over it.

 

This is no fiction stuff this is Madiba this is the man named Nelson Mandela, the living proof that a man can be so much more history can bow to him / her.

[Mephala 2,633]

There are moments when we get over our inherent and painfully obvious love of power, our greed, our inability to open to the things that we think are immoral (such as homosexuality)...but those are overpowered by the shootings, the stabbings, the rapes and the abuse cases. I cannot think of one moment in recent history when a media source such as rhe news has a story of "goodness" in it.

And I don't buy into the "good and evil" battle anyways. Everyone has their "evil" and "good" sides, it's just whichever is more prevalent.

I don't like humans. As George Orwell correctly stated in his novella Animal Farm: "Man is the only creature which consumes without producing." Oh, we do produce-tons and tons of waste. We allow others to suffer for our entertainment, and think we can "own" another animal. That (to me) is like buying slaves.

 

So all in all, I cannot recall a moment where something "good" happened, for I only see the "bad" most of the time.

Humans are a disgusting race. We should never have existed. If there are other habitable planets out there, I hope we finally realize that we already destroyed our own and don't repeat the cycle by attaching ourselves to a new one until we've used everything up.

 

"We look forward to the time when the power of love will replace the love of power. Then our world will know the blessings of peace." (William Gladstone)

"When you tell me that your deity made you in his image, I reply that he must have been very ugly." (Victor Hugo)

Edited December 24, 2012 by Nicolas Cage

[Yourmomsponies 444]

Man kind is still a bunch of primitive beasts it seems. Many a war, Many a man killed. For such silly causes as Money, Religion, Oil

A patch of dirt. food. Goddamn With the way things are going now It'd be lucky if mankind survives the next 500 years without blowing ourselves up.

On a lighter note There have been vert introspective men who have challenged this notion. A few good examples of Bits of philosophy to live by are these couple bits of videos 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[uuunph 288]

On 2012-12-24 at 10:07 AM, Metatora said:

So much hate for our own species, it's sad really.

 

Sure, we mess up every now and then but we're not evil by nature, not by a long shot. To judge all of us for the actions of a few is foolish and close minded. 

 

For example, remember hurricane Katrina? How many people went to help that had no obligation to do so? Same for the two tsunami incidents in the past few years (Indonesia and Japan) 

 

We're still a young species, and we're still figuring things out. Give us another century or so and I'd be willing to bet money that we improve greatly. 

 

It's just because people try to be edgy and hardcore by telling people over again just how terrible humanity is. I wouldn't think much of it.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Railrunner

[Modphase 1,270]

Humanity is not doomed. We may be ignorant, but deep down we are still intelligent, as a race, but not as a single person. I strongly believe in redemption, there are few things you can do in this world that I wouldn't forgive someone for. Or in this case, the entire human race. Over the course of centuries, we have improved greatly.

 

The only thing that will doom humanity is people's continuing cynical behavior and belief that there is no hope. There is much hope, as long as we forgive ourselves for what we've done, and look for a brighter future. If we dwell on the past too much, there is no room for a future.

 

 

This amazing song is only one example that, as long as we say goodbye to our ignorance, we will eventually become a much more civilized species.

 

And yes, there are many redeeming moments in history. Enough redeeming moments in the future will lead to forgiveness for ourselves.

 

An example is after The United Sates dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It was an appalling, loathsome act, but shortly after the war ended, the United States helped rebuild the entire city.

 

The second is a touching moment during the revolutionary war, which the battle I cannot remember for the life of me, but I believe it might have been the Battle of Brandywine Creek. After the British completely crushed the Patriot forces, the took in the wounded and dying Patriot soldiers who did not retreat, took them to their infirmaries, and healed their wounds and nursed them back to health. That kind of kindness in the face of an enemy is unheard of, but absolutely benevolent.

 

I just think that if we keep on hating ourselves for things we did in the past, or even today, the more we will become cynicall, the more we will lose faith in ourselves, and lose hope in humanity

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

The Christmas Truce would have been a beautiful moment, except that commanders on both sides ruined it by later reprimanding the troops for fraternizing with the enemy. NIce job, guys.

[~Asuka <3~ 867]

The Christmas Truce of 1914 is a shining event in the history of humanity.   Not only is it a stark contrast, to the Battle of Trenton, when George Washington and co. crossed the Delaware River and attacked the Hessian forces on Christmas Day in 1776,  but it shows that humanity isn't doomed to violence.  

 

If I remember correctly, there were several instances of truce in that war.  In a war diary that I've read, German and British soldiers met each other in a trench, and instead of blowing each other to bits, they had a momentary truce, where they simply sat in the dark, at peace.  

 

The shining spots in our history provide us with a glimpse of hope for the future.  One day, we shall learn.  I just wonder what the cost of that will be.