Blame...

I haven't posted for a while...there's lots of stories to tell & hopefully they will spill out over these pages in the coming days, but there is one theme which is sticking itself into my mind like a thorn - blame.


Over the last week I've heard a couple of 'personal' stories which are based on situations (for reasons of privacy, I won't reveal too much detail) where injustice is at work. Two people have been accused of doing something (in isolated incidents) which is almost certainly not true - one is to do with a 2-yr old driving accident, & the other is over something medical. What is clear to me is the need on the part of the 'accusers' to blame someone for the results of each incident - or 'alleged' results...(depends on the point of view, of course...)


When life is so 'random' (which it clearly is, if you have no belief in God), and things just don't work out as you think they should, then what do you do with that? It seems like an integral part of our human make-up - we have to find someone to blame. We can blame family, extend it to friends, generalise it to include the government, society...hey, even the dog/cat...weather?! There seems an inability to take responsibility for our actions, or even our part in something...it's always someone else's fault...


As a Christian, I am aware that this characteristic has been around for a very, very, very long time. Way back in the Garden of Eden we can read of the first instance of blaming someone else...
Adam & Eve have been advised by God that they can pretty much do what they want...BUT they 'should not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden'...not even touch it...or they would die. Fairly clear instructions. Along comes the serpent (representing the devil, or evil one) and he puts the seed of doubt into Eve's thinking...'Did God really say that?' The seed finds root...Eve takes a bite, gives some to Adam (who is standing there)...he takes a bite...and it's game over. God comes along, asks what's going on...(like he doesn't know!) - and Adam's reponse?! “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” In other words - 'Not my fault! Nothing to do with me! You put her here with me! It's your fault!' (At this point in the story, I wonder what would have happened if Adam had have said 'Fair cop! It was me!' ?? Better still...if when Eve had passed him the fruit he would have said, 'No way, lips that touch that shall never touch mine!' :-)) 


Eve's response? “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” - and there we have it - the first & original example of blame-shifting! :-) And who says that sin is NOT hereditary...?! Be honest with yourself - when was the last time you DID NOT blame someone else for something? Better still - when was the last time you took the responsibility for some 'mistake/error/fault'? 


The horrific events over the weekend in Norway also highlight this tendency of the need to blame someone. Well, you would think it was cut & dried. They have the mass killer (for once he hasn't killed himself). But no. Now people want to blame the police (they weren't quick enough), the organisers of the camp (why was there no better protection?)...on and on it goes...And I wonder how many of the families concerned are blaming themselves for letting their children go to the event...? 


A quick search for some quotes to do with this subject has brought up these:


We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until... we have stopped saying "It got lost," and say "I lost it."  ~Sidney J. Harris


When you blame others, you give up your power to change.  ~Author Unknown


I know I'm probably just rambling & my thoughts are not as coherent as I would like them to be...but I leave you with this one:
If you mess up, 'fess up.  ~Author Unknown