It's a great game, isn't. Point the finger at somebody else. Make what ever excuse you can fabricate on the spot. It seems that this game has been going on for quite some time.
There's an old, old story about a woman (Eve) that disobeys God by doing the one thing that He says not to do. She then entices her man (Adam) to do the same thing. So now we have Adam and Eve hiding in the garden because they know that they are naked. God comes through the garden and asks, "Who told you that you're naked? Did you eat from the tree?"
At this point, I suppose that Adam could've said something like, "Uh, God, I'm really sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I ate from the tree that you said to leave alone. I'm sorry."
But instead, Adam begins The Blame Game. "The woman that you gave to be with me gave me the fruit and I ate."
To the woman God asks, "Why did you do this?"
She replies, "It was the serpent. He tricked me."
And The Blame Game was invented. Over the past several millennium man has managed to perfect (or pervert, depending on your point of view) this little game. Played well, you never have to be accountable for your bad choices. Pick somebody that is poorly equipped to defend themselves or just conveniently blame the villain of the day. Make it the Republicans. Make it the Democrats. Make it the church. Make it the corporations or just do what Eve did and say, "The devil made me do it." Nobody is really expecting anybody to admit to having made a mistake anymore. Just offer your best excuse and condemn the nearest bystander.
Abuse the power of your political office; consort with people of questionable character; sell bad investments; condemn people that have different beliefs...whatever. If it's all for the good of the state, the school, the investors, the church--it's okay. Lie if you have to--everybody does it. It's all apart of the game.
It would be nice if somebody could come up with a new game, wouldn't it?
John
John - Great post as usual. Imagine if we could only love one another??? I guess it's just easier to blame each other.
ReplyDeletePat S.
You forgot to acknowledge the quote -
ReplyDelete"The devil made me do it."
Flip Wilson
Satan started the first lie when he said to Eve that you will not die if you eat the fruit. We can only wonder what life would have been like had she rejected the first lie or if Adam had not continued it.
ReplyDeleteCiao
The other thing that's as tiresome as the blame game is how poor the memories are of people who play the blame game. Sarah Palin thinks William Ayers is a terrorist; I think Sarah Palin's husband is someone we need to watch because about a decade or less ago, he belonged to a political party that promoted the secession of Alaska from the Union. Sarah must have forgotten all about that revelation from her past, because it's okay for her to have a very intimate association with this other radical, Todd Palin, but Barack Obama can not be acquainted with William Ayers in a non-intimate, arms-length way without inciting Sarah to engage in the blame game, and for her to impose a double standard on people outside her close family circle. With friends like her, who needs enemies?
ReplyDeleteGood idea, too late, too bad.
ReplyDeleteWasn't it Geraldine?
ReplyDelete