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Kindergarten and first grade teachers know the answer to the following question before it is ever asked: Who hit who first? The answer is obvious. "He (or she) hit me first. No, he hit me first. No, he hit me first. No, he hit me first..." These children were born only a few years earlier as perfectly spotless and without even a knowledge of sin. What happened? Observe their learning environment the past six years. Daddy blames Mommy. Mommy blames Daddy. Brother blames sister. Sister blames brother. Grandpa blames Grandma. Grandma blames Grandpa, etc. Is it any wonder that we have become the most litigious society in the world? When did this blame cycle begin? In Genesis:
Neither the man nor the woman accepted responsibility for their actions. Man blamed his sin on the woman, and indirectly on God for giving him the woman in the first place, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." The woman blamed her sin on the serpent. Men and women have had a problem trusting each other ever since. Is this attribute of blaming others for our sins an innate characteristic of man? If we isolated a newborn boy and girl and raised them together on a deserted island, they would likely grow up blaming each other for their failures. Who do we ultimately blame? When we accidentally hit our thumb with a hammer do we accept responsibility and shout "Damn me?" Probably not. Most of us curse the omnipotent creator and say the "GD" word. After all, if He had not given us a thumb, we would not have hit it in the first place! So we still do as Adam and blame God. Thus, man has not progressed very far in six thousand years when it comes to accepting responsibility. While we quickly accept credit for successes, we remain like Adam and Eve in accepting responsibility for failures. We must have that someone to blame! Man is thus cursed with religious hatred, racial hatred, sexual preference hatred... and on, and on, and on. Americans are fortunate to live in a multiracial and ethnic country where our differences are obvious. Thus, we can say the black guy did it. Or the white guy, or the brown guy, or the guy with slanted eyes, or the Jewish guy, or the Christian, or the Islamic guy, or the homosexual, or the atheist, or the Democrat, or the Republican. I can't find a job because they're only hiring illegals, or minorities, or women. Americans may thus freely pick and choose from a wide selection of groups to blame for their failures. While some blame several groups others isolate against one. Some hate in generalities, using terms such as minorities or the even more vague "them." Regardless, America is blessed with many groups and most of us can find at least one to look down on and even hate. In fact, much effort and many resources are expended in our nation due to hate. But what about countries like India and Rhodesia whose citizens all look basically the same? Incredible, unnatural separations were created to divide them into separate competing groups. Thus India has the caste system while Rhodesians are either Tutsi or Hutu. Ah, now they can blame each other for their shortcomings. These systems illustrate the importance of having someone to blame. When there are no natural differences separating us, we design artificial ones! In actuality, if we could stand back a long distance and observe all the "diverse" groups, we would discover that we are not really that different! If you are a parent for example, you want a good life and future for your children and grandchildren, no matter what else you are. In fact, the objectives, hopes, emotions, and desires of all of us can be summarized in a very few short sentences. This is no great or new discovery on my part. Such lists exist from long ago. My favorite and the one I love the most begins with the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident ..."
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