Hurtling into a no-blame culture has serious theological implications...

by Dr Andrew Corbett,
President ICI College Australia and Lecturer in Ethics and Contemporary Issues, Worldview Centre for Intercultural Studies

The Australian public is currently being teased with excerpts from the "Latham Diaries" where the former contender for the top office in Australia at the last election has now revealed that he was being constantly undermined and sabotaged by his colleagues. Never before has Australia witnessed such a public demonstration of blame-shifting and victim-identity-swapping! What may not be immediately obvious is the cultural shift that this is symptomatic of, and how seriously this affects the Christian's task of communicating the true identity of God...

THE ORIGIN OF BLAMING...

When God visited Eden just after the rebellious betrayal by Adam and Eve, He asked Adam why he had succumbed to sin (Genesis 3). Adam blamed Eve. When Adam's two sons brought their offerings to God, Abel excelled by giving his best, and Cain was lackluster because he gave a second-rate offering. But what was Cain's response to Abel's success and his failure? He blamed Abel. This is astounding. Even today we see this type of blaming- when someone else does well they become the object of blame for others who aren't doing so well. God had a very direct rebuke for Cain when he felt this way, and an even stronger rebuke when he acted on this misguided notion.

Blaming occurs throughout the Bible. When Samuel challenged King Saul in 1Samuel 15 about his lack of obedience to the Lord's directives, Saul immediately blamed the people he was leading. For this, he received one of the severest rebukes in all of Scripture. It appears that God demands of His appointed leaders the highest embracing of responsibility for the tasks to which He has assigned them.

WHEN BLAME GOES TOO FAR...

There are of course some instances where it is reasonable and appropriate to apportion blame where it is due, and where it is clearly leveled at the source of failed responsibility. But there is a form of blame which is gaining in popularity. This is where the innocent victim of an injustice is blamed for the injustice by the perpetrator of the wrong! For example-

• A school bully intimidates another student who in turn reports the bullying. When the bully is dealt with by the relevant authorities, he immediately seeks his victim out and further harasses him. When asked why, he claims that since the victim had reported him to authorities he deserved what was coming to him.
• A rapist claims that if his victim were not so attractive he would not have been so compelled to violate her. Blame-shifting says that women should make themselves less attractive (responsibility says that men should control their urges and not act out every lustful thought they have!).

And this type of blaming carries over onto the international stage when terrorists blow up public buses in London and blame England's involvement in Iraq as the cause for such terror!

While I strongly questioned and even disagreed with the right of the Coalition of the Willing regarding their invasion of Iraq, I regard the acts of terror which they are trying to eradicate in Iraq as quite a separate issue. To accept that acts of terror in Iraq are justified because, as the terrorists claim, the United States is a "foreign invader/oppressor" is totally unacceptable blame-shifting. To similarly claim that the answer to the terrorist attack problems in Iraq would be resolved if the United States and its allies pulled out of Iraq is to seriously confuse issues, and reward blame-shifting and confuse who the real victim is. Regardless of whether there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or not, there can be no doubt that the former Iraqi Dictator was guilty of crimes against humanity, especially against the Kurds. Despite public perception, most of the carnage post-Sadam in Iraq appears to be the result of militant ideologues rather indiscriminate American killing. Let's be careful who we blame for the present state of Iraq!

HURRICANES IN LOUISIANNA...

Perhaps some of the most ridiculous blame-shifting occurring at the moment is the claim by some that America is being Divinely punished with hurricanes because they supported Ariel Sharon's Gaza pull-out! This raises issues about how we understand the New Covenant and the place of Israel post-Calvary, and the heart and nature of God in dealing with people and nations today. I have written much on this and recommend readers download my free e-commentary of the Book of Revelation where I have chapters dedicated to these topics.

Before we go blaming God for such natural disasters, we need to ask whether we knew such an event was inevitable due to the natural mix of factors (seasonal weather patterns, below-sea level coastal population centres, etc.).

THEOLOGICALLY...

As Christians we need to be a people who accept responsibility. This especially needs to apply to our own lives. It also applies to our walk with the Lord. We can not blame someone else for our lax spiritual condition. There are enough examples of godly people in Scripture and history who had every reason not to be spiritually strong, but managed to be so.

If we allow to go unchallenged the idea of blame-shifting we will make out task of sharing the greatest news mankind could ever hear, potentially unintelligible to the modern Western hearer. That's why there is a major theological challenge in the current trend to blame someone else. Mark Latham's release of the "The Latham Diaries" only perpetuates this dangerous trend. In it, he blames nearly everyone else for his own failures. In his interview with Australia's premier interviewer, Andrew Denton, he stood by his allegations that he wasn't to blame for his demise. He particularly had some stinging criticism for his former colleague Kevin Rudd, who is very good and highly competent man.

I hope that in everyday conversation we can correct and challenge such blame shifting whether it comes from former Prime Minister contenders or our next door neighbours! Ultimately, people's acceptance of their own moral culpability need for a Saviour depends on it!

Andrew Corbett, 16th September 2005