One of the regular bumperstickers I get to be edified by here in the City by the Bay is this: "If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention." It is an invitation to continual moral exhibitionism as a way of acting out. The highminded, stamping their little Prada-clad feet.
When I was in shrink training, I had to attend a lot of special workshops. One of them, one of the worst, was on child abuse. The woman in charge of the fest included in her passion play a list of presenting issues that might indicate a child was being abused. The list began. And continued. And continued. At one point, irritated beyond my limit, I raised my hand and asked if there were any presenting symptoms that might not indicate child abuse. The Medusa could not have looked at me any more stonily. I had offended her sense of perpetual outrage. Nowadays my question might be classed as "hate speech".
Speaking of outrage, here's a link to a site both funny and all-too-telling: List of Things That Offend Muslims. Pull up a chair, get a cup of coffee, tell the boss you won't be in today, and start reading.
1 comment:
Absolutely excellent point, SF. It reminds me of the 1990s, when women were being encourage to believe that they had suppressed memories of incestuous child abuse. The deal was that, if you remembered it, it clearly happened; and if you didn't remember it, you must have suppressed it, so it clearly happened. Or as I've heard, "to a hammer, everything is a nail."
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