(1) they dont see any link between the world outside and their own well-being
(2) they think it is none of their business and even if it is, there is nothing one person can do about world problems (esp outside their community)
(3) they have enough of their own problems/issues to handle much less be concerned about others
(4) they think that by having a religion (as opposed to genuine faith in godliness) they have done all that is needed to help the world. Like belonging to a boys scout club.
But Mr MMOB is quite mistaken to be completely indifferent to the problems of society: the reason is simply that it shows a deep lack of empathy.
In essence, it signifies a violation of a golden law of life: that man is to love his neighbor as he loves himself. He is to love people as he loves his own people. While many religions prescribe the same thing in principle, their impact on mankind is ambiguous.
What happens when we dont love (not the sentimental, passive, premeditated type) our neighbors as ourselves but instead hate them?
This deep rooted problem, sometimes crystalised in childhood, when left unresolved in later years, invariably leads to multiple problems in the psyche: racism, mental illness, tribalism, greed, envy and hate.
The least endemic and most common sin seems to be the self-preoccupation of the MMOB. (He may care about himself or his family but he cares not a hoot for others outside his sphere.) But lack of empathy is the seed of a tree of spiritual isolation.
That said, there is a big difference between being intellectually concerned about the world's sorrows on the one hand and loving your neighbor on the other.
Does it matter, from the human point of view, whether the enquiry starts from genuine empathy for others less fortunate than us or from intellectual idealism?
It is my opinion that there is a difference as love is a key axiom. Idealism may lead to an utopian society that subjugates individual freedoms to the welfare and the good of the community.
The other problem with starting from intellectual idealism rather than genuine conscience is that we are not mentally well equipped as well as economically incentivised to navigate through all the intellectual issues and counter arguments.
Indeed, the modern psyche has become so spiritually unbalanced and atrophied that mere intellectual differences in political, economic and cultural values bring out the worst in people.
So what is the solution to the MMOB's empathy deficit in this age of fake news and multiple social media platforms of communication?
Should anyone care for people, especially grown, rational adults, who dont care? Should they not deserve what they get once reality bites into their lives ?
The answer lies in understanding the truth that we, as individual creations of our Creator, can and do impact the destiny of man's affairs (poverty, starvation, Brexit, Hong Kong civil unrest, political and psychological oppression and bondages).
Our personal action and responsibility is not through political campaigns nor private meditation but through simple, heart-felt prayers to our Creator.
We are created to exist in this world for a purpose and that is to co-create with God to carry out His plan and desire. Every soul, weak or strong, poor or rich, is enshrined with this purpose and each one's life, thoughts and action matters.
Perhaps, a new version of Saint Francis's prayer is called for given the urgency of a world on the edge of collapse:
"Pray God give me the courage to change the things I have to change, the fortitude to bear the things I cannot change according to Your will, and the wisdom to know the difference."
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