It is impossible to miss the current fashion of having to blame someone, anyone, for just about anything! It has always been rife in all things political, but it has now encroached into the lives of ordinary people.
There are the usual suspects and culprits: Different ethnic groups blaming each other for all sorts of wrongdoing. Opposing religions pointing the finger at each other for the rising state of bigotry in the country. The police for performing too many stop and searches on the most likely to offend, just because it’s viewed as racially targeted. The NHS for not doing enough to care for a patient when thousands are saved and healed every day. The ambulance crews who don’t get there as fast as we would like, but are still within their target. The lawyers for getting the well known criminal off on a technicality. It starts early in life, in the school playground when a goal is scored against your team and you blame the referee, and so it goes on through life. As we sometimes say in jest, “A big boy did it and ran away”, except it’s not so funny now.
It seems to help when we convince ourselves that any problem we have is always someone else’s fault! The saddest part for me is that some children and teenages will even blame their parents for the way they turned out and the bad example given as they saw it. Is it me, or does no one take responsibility now for anything they do themselves? To adopt a word from the USA, are we turning out a generation of ‘snowflakes’ who are offended at everything but responsible for nothing?
Do we have to constantly use the blame card? Is it possible that there are still people out there who will put their hand up and admit, “that was my fault, sorry” and with that small statement reduce the tension while at the same time increase their own priceless integrity in the eyes of others? Oh, and did I mention being a forgiving person is also Christ-like?
Jesus said, if you forgive...your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
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Showing posts with label blame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blame. Show all posts
Saturday, 8 September 2018
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Gulf Oil Leak - The Blame Game
It seems we have now moved into the serious business of hanging blame for the deaths, accidental oil explosion and massive leak in the Gulf of Mexico. It becomes more apparent that there will be no quick fix for the problem, and nothing to stem the flow until the parallel drilling is completed sometime in August. So, what do we do meantime? We blame, and it all comes too easily to our lips.
President Obama has not been quiet. He feels strongly, and has already said the chief of bp would not be working for him. He obviously wants to lay blame on someone. It should be noted that 40% of all invested money in bp, comes from the USA. Not only that, but there are tens of thousands of employees of bp who live and work in the Gulf area. Oh, and the name of the company has not been 'British Petroleum' since the 80's, when it changed to bp, mainly because of its US, and multi national standing . President Obama's words have already caused millions of dollars to be wiped off the value of shares, both in the USA and across the world. Some people have even called for a boycott of bp and all their subsidiaries. Harsh talk, but is it justified?
It is worth defining the word accident. It is "any unplanned event that resulted in injury or ill health of people, or damage or loss to property", and worth remembering. We are beginning to look and sound like we have a company in the arena, and about to set the lions on them to see if they survive. They will be innocent if they live! Human nature needs, and wants us to blame so easily. It makes us feel in control, and in this case, we are not in control. Not the US President, not the Chairman of bp, no one.
How would we feel if we were judged on those things which we accidentally did? Do we chastise our children when they have accidents? How about those times when they didn't know the full extent of their actions? Do we treat them in the same way as if they had deliberately set out to do wrong? No. What if we carry that same argument to our own judgement? Will God judge us the same as we judge others? I hope not. He 'will give mercy, not justice'. I would not wish to be judged by anyone in this life, and certainly not in the next life, by those things which were accidental wrongs.
Why are we so quick to use a different set of laws in judgement here, when we have already been forgiven so many accidental crimes and sins, by a loving God? Maybe it's a sign of our humanity, and again, maybe it's a sign of our distance from the same God who will judge us some day. I like the verse which says, "Will not the judge of all do right"? I for one, am counting on it.
President Obama has not been quiet. He feels strongly, and has already said the chief of bp would not be working for him. He obviously wants to lay blame on someone. It should be noted that 40% of all invested money in bp, comes from the USA. Not only that, but there are tens of thousands of employees of bp who live and work in the Gulf area. Oh, and the name of the company has not been 'British Petroleum' since the 80's, when it changed to bp, mainly because of its US, and multi national standing . President Obama's words have already caused millions of dollars to be wiped off the value of shares, both in the USA and across the world. Some people have even called for a boycott of bp and all their subsidiaries. Harsh talk, but is it justified?
It is worth defining the word accident. It is "any unplanned event that resulted in injury or ill health of people, or damage or loss to property", and worth remembering. We are beginning to look and sound like we have a company in the arena, and about to set the lions on them to see if they survive. They will be innocent if they live! Human nature needs, and wants us to blame so easily. It makes us feel in control, and in this case, we are not in control. Not the US President, not the Chairman of bp, no one.
How would we feel if we were judged on those things which we accidentally did? Do we chastise our children when they have accidents? How about those times when they didn't know the full extent of their actions? Do we treat them in the same way as if they had deliberately set out to do wrong? No. What if we carry that same argument to our own judgement? Will God judge us the same as we judge others? I hope not. He 'will give mercy, not justice'. I would not wish to be judged by anyone in this life, and certainly not in the next life, by those things which were accidental wrongs.
Why are we so quick to use a different set of laws in judgement here, when we have already been forgiven so many accidental crimes and sins, by a loving God? Maybe it's a sign of our humanity, and again, maybe it's a sign of our distance from the same God who will judge us some day. I like the verse which says, "Will not the judge of all do right"? I for one, am counting on it.
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