Tip #42 Tragedies Part 2.
Nov. 29th, 2015 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastPreviously, in response to one tragedy, I advised you to be careful in using (or preferably not) tragedy as a talking point for your faith.
Now, let's deal with what happens when the tragedy is what some member of your faith or movement or position does.
There's a temptation when that happens. Whether dealing with the distant past or the very close now, there's a temptation to invalidate the example.
Just this past Friday, someone took hostages at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado. Gordon Klingenshmitt argued that the man who took hostages, killed three, and injured nine others, couldn't be a conservative or a pro-life activist because "That just is not how we act." That was the lighter side, the heavier side included many, many tweets of false-flag accusations. Before the incident was even over, tweets came to and fro claiming that this was a false flag operation, meant to make the pro-life movement look bad.
Now, whether or not you self-identify with the pro-life movement, some group you identify with will have a member do something like this. That could be a political side or a religious grouping. It will happen. You must resist the temptation.
Do not accuse others of a false-flag conspiracy. Do not state that someone cannot be a member because they have done something like this.
Do the hard thing, self-critique of yourself and your culture. I realize that you may feel defensive, need to protect your movement from the backlash to this kind of thing, because, as you believe, your movement or faith does so much good and shouldn't be associated. But, do the self-critique anyway.
Maybe it's not the fault, in any way, of the sub-culture that is defined by your movement or political position or religious faith. Maybe it's not entirely your fault, but there is more you can do to be more aware of where people who take your positions can go wrong, and more of an effort to do to catch people and steer them right before that point. And, in relation to the latest tragedy to hit the news, maybe you need to quit with the blood libel.
The temptation is tempting, in part, because it seems like it's the less damaging thing to do. You don't want to even put it in people's heads that one person or one small group doing something horrible really reflects on you. But, if you do that, whether you engage in the No True Scotsman fallacy or assume a false-flag conspiracy, we don't see you being blameless. But, blame or no, we see you being more concerned with being seen to be blameless than with stopping potential tragedies.
Now, let's deal with what happens when the tragedy is what some member of your faith or movement or position does.
There's a temptation when that happens. Whether dealing with the distant past or the very close now, there's a temptation to invalidate the example.
Just this past Friday, someone took hostages at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado. Gordon Klingenshmitt argued that the man who took hostages, killed three, and injured nine others, couldn't be a conservative or a pro-life activist because "That just is not how we act." That was the lighter side, the heavier side included many, many tweets of false-flag accusations. Before the incident was even over, tweets came to and fro claiming that this was a false flag operation, meant to make the pro-life movement look bad.
Now, whether or not you self-identify with the pro-life movement, some group you identify with will have a member do something like this. That could be a political side or a religious grouping. It will happen. You must resist the temptation.
Do not accuse others of a false-flag conspiracy. Do not state that someone cannot be a member because they have done something like this.
Do the hard thing, self-critique of yourself and your culture. I realize that you may feel defensive, need to protect your movement from the backlash to this kind of thing, because, as you believe, your movement or faith does so much good and shouldn't be associated. But, do the self-critique anyway.
Maybe it's not the fault, in any way, of the sub-culture that is defined by your movement or political position or religious faith. Maybe it's not entirely your fault, but there is more you can do to be more aware of where people who take your positions can go wrong, and more of an effort to do to catch people and steer them right before that point. And, in relation to the latest tragedy to hit the news, maybe you need to quit with the blood libel.
The temptation is tempting, in part, because it seems like it's the less damaging thing to do. You don't want to even put it in people's heads that one person or one small group doing something horrible really reflects on you. But, if you do that, whether you engage in the No True Scotsman fallacy or assume a false-flag conspiracy, we don't see you being blameless. But, blame or no, we see you being more concerned with being seen to be blameless than with stopping potential tragedies.
