Courtesy of wikipedia.org
A woman in her mid-50s, whom I’d known for two decades, recently dropped me from her Facebook circle. Once an advocate for women’s rights, she acquired a boyfriend, and not long after, I noted changes in the tenor of her remarks. Each time she defended MAGA values, I countered with a question. In time, her response was to banish me.
She wouldn’t be the first woman to embrace the values of her partner, though I may be making a false connection. Her boyfriend might be a pacifist, for all I know. No matter the reason, the woman had changed her philosophy, though she lacked either the confidence or the information to defend it. Her sole protection was to stop listening to contrary ideas.
…more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know. (“The Passionate State of Mind,” by Eric Hoffer, Hopewell Publications, 2006, pg. 31.)
Self-imposed ignorance is the price some are willing to pay for tribal membership. In return, they imagine they receive absolution for wickedness or acts of cruelty they perform at the group’s behest, or that of their leader, or their god. According to philosopher Eric Hoffer, their alibi is that they feel they are among the chosen. (Ibid., pg. 42)
Freed from the rigors of reason and absolved of guilt, what a tribal member looks for from his peers is validation. To be fair, validation is important to every person. Psychics feed on it. A woman who consults a spiritualist to learn if her departed husband is happy will never be told he is burning in hell.
Like psychics, tribal leaders reinforce group identity. If they are charismatic enough, they might also bend minds. A follower, for example, might be convinced that a pizza parlor fronts for a pedophile ring.
Blind loyalty within the group also allows the leader to extend boundaries. He might say, “A woman who has an abortion must be executed.” The statement has no authority in any religion. Still, it becomes true in proportion to the gullibility of the tribe.
To maintain loyalty, the leader may create divisions inconsistent with the broader society and in opposition to the sacred value of preserving and protecting the species. Nonetheless, these imaginary barriers endow the tribe with a sense of social and moral superiority.
We are familiar with many forms of discrimination of this kind: rich vs. poor; educated vs undereducated; religious vs. non-religious… right down to the color of one’s skin. The distinctions are without merit but confer tribal solidarity.
Even so, when we listen to our better angels, these barriers fall away. It may be true that one wave will break upon the beach with greater force than the one before it, but the difference is of no importance. Each wave is an expression of the sea.
As moral beings, one question should govern our actions. Do our efforts promote social harmony? Harmony is the key word in this question as it speaks to diversity rather than sameness.
As sentient beings, we dupe ourselves when we imagine we can assign our moral responsibility to a tribe, a government, or society. We may be social animals, but each of us is endowed with free will. Any act we commit, be it kind or cruel, is our decision.
We build moral societies when individuals work for the good of the species. Every beach, let us remember, begins with a grain of sand.
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