The news reported that a large and man-eating cat had escaped a zoo nearby and it has a hunger that will never be satisfied. A man heard of this and scoffed for he does not believe the cat exists, his friend since childhood however does believe the news, One day the two are out and debating the nature of reality and morality as was their custom. The friend noticed what he believed to be a pair of large cat eyes in a bush near the other. Knowing the cat would attack (from the news) if the other came much closer to the bush, the friend has a choice:
Is it more right to respect the others right to disbelieve in the man-eating cat, and possibly allow him to be eaten, or warn him of impending doom, and risk offending him?
Addendum:
Because it's been asked I will explain this here, though the answer really should be obvious:
The right thing for the friend to do is Warn the other, perhaps even to pull him away from the bush. While the risk in this is Offending the other, Life is of more value than a bruised ego, or even a bruised arm!
What, you may say, if the cat is indeed simply a myth? I tell you that it does not matter! The remotest possibility that the danger is true should be enough to give one pause and act to save a friend, else what kind of friend are we?
The man-eating cat is the appeal of greed, lust, envy, pride etc and the temporary pleasures that such things can provide but at a terrible cost! While I believe that Christs sacrifice is universal, it does not protect us from the cats maw or the pain that succumbing to those appeals can cause us and others around us even generations after the fact!
