February 23, 2014:

Rationalization

      I see a great deal of rationalizing going on today.  To rationalize in my dictionary means to find false reasons for irrational or unworthy behavior.  It’s a close cousin to hypocrisy:  to pretend toward a virtue or truth we don’t possess.  All of us are guilty of rationalization from time to time.  We do it to convince ourselves and others that we were really right in what we said or did while conveniently ignoring our less worthy behavior.  Some cases in point from recent news stories . . .

      George Zimmerman who killed Trayvon Martin insists that the night of this tragedy he, too, was a victim!  These days it seems that many who are discovered in bad or even wicked behavior present themselves as victims which is supposed to excuse or rationalize what they have done.  Following this line of thought, no one will finally be guilty of anything and our justice system will collapse.  This seems to have been the defense of the Florida man who shot and killed the black teenager for disturbing him with loud “thug” music.  And the jury bought it!  Now Michael Dunn says he also was a victim! I wonder what the response will be when some black young men shoot white men and claim they felt threatened or annoyed?

      Along with this goes the specious rationalization that guns do not kill people, people do, thus justifying ever increasing numbers of guns flooding our society.  Of course, people kill people (!) but countries such as Canada that have far fewer guns in private hands also have less gun violence and murder.  When will we wake up from this national nightmare?

      And then there are the Bible Believers, those who rationalize their irrational belief in “creationism,” and discrimination against Lesbians and Gays.  “It’s in the Bible.”  My deluded Christian sister and brother, you don’t have a clue as to what the Bible means. 
To me this all seems part of the “dumbing down” of America.

      Add to that all the people who deny climate change.  “We had a cold winter.  Global warming is not true.”  Of course, the rationalizing is being fueled (!) by oil and coal producers who want to justify their obscene profits.

      Last, but not least, are our Southern neighbors who insist the Civil War was about States Rights, not slavery.  This then leads to a rationalizing of a return to a national Confederacy with states at liberty to flout the Constitution maybe even succeed.  Where will this nonsense end?