Tom Holmes
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

To use SJW vernacular, when you say things like you’re not reading most of the comments or “don’t let the bastards win,” you are in fact “otherizing” a vast swatch of humanity. There’s no question that humans are flawed. Any Christian could tell you why that is, but I expect you might not find their arguments persuasive. So I’ll just say this: the behavior that you see every day is the result of millennia of trial and error, with successful behaviors being rewarded and unsuccessful behaviors punished. American society, among many others, is trying hard to reinvent these traditional relationships and their associated behaviors, creating fault lines that you and others interpret as flaws in others. It makes sense that, if the smallest changes in the environment creates problems, that large-scale changes will only create bigger problems.

This is the way of things. Some people, people like you, feel the rumble of the tectonics and immediately jump to the conclusion that the “fix” for it is that other people, usually people for whom you have a deep-seated resentment, are responsible, and have an obligation to change their behavior. If we have an obligation to amend our behavior, to whom do we owe such obligation? I could offer an explanation for that as well, but again, you wouldn’t care for it.

I’ll leave you with a question, Jody. If shame serves no purpose, why has it been so persistent over the thousands of years of human history? The oldest Abrahamic story is Adam and Eve being ashamed of their nakedness after they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If it has always been with us, then logically it must serve a very important purpose. Do you believe in evolution? If so, you must believe that shame is a successful behavior, right?

If it sounds like I’m suggesting that your entire philosophical underpinning is a pathology, it is because I am. If it makes you feel better, mine is as well. The only difference is that I understand that, and I declined to consciously inflict my pathology on my kids.

    Tom Holmes

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