How many belief systems advocate an endless self sacrificial love?

Why don’t you ask how many stars are in the sky while you’re at it?

All of them. Some just like to be creative hiding that fact.

I don’t know any! how long would such a belief system last??

I keep thinking of this yoga cult I heard of on TV…they positively drove themselves crazy with…well…positivity

@ChazMaz I don’t think thats true. Most beliefs are about love but they place limits on who they should bestow this love on or say that people can do things that will make them stop loving them etc…

@jaketheripper: though I know where your question comes from, you phrased this in a very muddled way.

you really mean, “what religions actually practice this ethic as well as talk about it.” the Quakers do. the Rainbow Family of Living Light, though their gatherings drive unto madness, pretty much do. (“pretty much” because of the passive-aggressive hippies part of the scene. “drainbows” as they call them.) the Jains practice very strict nonviolence. those two come in to mind. I actually don’t know much about the Jains.

I’d really like some examples so I can understand what you mean more clearly.

Having someone’s best interests at heart sometimes means giving them hell. Meekly submitting to abuse by someone does them no service in the long run. Nor does trying to spare someone the consequences of their bad behavior by covering for them or facilitating their behavior serve their best interests.

What many faiths teach is to get your ego out of the way. To most people, their self is the most important thing there is, and if there’s a “root of all evil”, it’s this inflated sense of self. Some religious practices are centered on whittling the ego down to size, so that the interests of others matter at least as much as our own. Once the self doesn’t dominate one’s worldview anymore, then looking out for the best interests of others comes naturally. You’re simply not always trying to work things to your advantage; you can forget about yourself when necessary.

That’s different from a belief-driven “self-sacrificial” attitude. If you still have this strong sense of self, but your beliefs tell you that you must self-consciously force yourself to endure hardship for someone else’s advantage, that ironically becomes an ego-driven enterprise. One develops a martyr-like self-image, which is just another form of ego, and is often pathetically blind to the actual welfare of others.

I think they all do, isnt that what draws us to relgious groups is the possibility of having someone or somthing love you so much that it has no end…

no, not all religions do. as an example, judaism has traditionally considered jews the chosen people. the OP actually said “belief systems”, not religions.

None that I know of.

“a love that is practical and leads people to suffer wrongdoing for the sake of others and to sacrifice their own good for that of others.”

It is called religion. And, you do not see it that way because you believe. Believing in (love that is practical) something that is not real. At least the way you were brought up to see it.