As we observed with the Pharisees, blindness to our need also blinds us to the need in others. It is a matter of empathy, compassion, and solidarity. Never experiencing poverty, we fail to understand why the poor (“those people on welfare”) just don’t go out and get a job. Our smug, self-contained, god-like success creates gaps of understanding and compassion. And, once again, we find disgust creating boundaries between people. In this case disgust at the poor hides our own vulnerabilities, allowing us to pretend we are gods, self-determined agents. From this Olympian vantage point, we cannot
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