Historic
flooding in Houston from hurricane Harvey has generated a flood of second
guessing. Even as the rain still pelted the region, politicians and the media
were leveling their Monday-morning-quarterbacking-opinions as to what should
have been done, and who was at fault for not doing something differently. Texas
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to leave Houston during a news
conference the day before hurricane Harvey hit. On the other hand, Huston’s Democratic
Mayor Sylvester Turner didn’t see things this way and did not order a mandatory
evacuation. As a result, now the blame game is in full force. It is amazing how
humanity is more interested in fixing blame rather than fixing the problem.
People in the Huston area want people to fix the mess they are in and not try
and pin the blame on a donkey, or an elephant for that matter!
How much of life is spent fixing blame on
others for what did or did not happened to us? A person in a difficult marriage
sees all the faults of their spouse and is oblivious of their own. So they fix
blame on their spouse for a failed marriage, only to enter into another
relationship with their own issues unaddressed. Perhaps an individual finds
they are being dismissed from another job. They assure anyone who will listen
that the corporate world is in need of a major overhaul in how they view and treat
workers. Sadly, there is no consideration of what they may have done to generate
such treatment. A child clashing with his or her siblings complains about the discipline
they received from a parent. They insist their sibling was to blame and dismiss
any part they contributed to the fracas. A friend agonizes over a broken
relationship. They conclude their former friend was to blame for the fracture.
Little consideration is given as to how to mend the relationship and even less
to assume some level of responsibility for the demise. Perhaps this human
propensity stimulated Benjamin Franklin to conclude, “He that is good for
making excuses is seldom good for anything else."
We live in a culture of victimization.
This mindset concludes, “I am a victim of what happened and not a contributor
to my painful experience.” This tendency to fix blame on others is not new. It appeared in the early days after creation.
In the biblical record of Genesis there is an account of Adam’s and Eve’s blame
game. They had been given very clear directions related to the privileges they
were to enjoy. They had a smorgasbord provided by God for them to enjoy in the
perfect environment of Eden. God said, “Of every tree of the garden you may
freely eat” (3:16). One tree, identified as the “tree of the knowledge of good
and evil,” was prohibited from their menu. The warning was clear, “For in the
day you eat of it you shall surely die” (3:17). God also provided Eve as a
blessing of companionship and partnership so that man would not be alone
(3:18). Even in this paradise a blame game arose. Two individuals decided to
defy God’s plan and ate of the prohibited tree. How would the personal failure
be addressed?
The blame game set in immediately. Blame
is passed from one to another. God confronts Adam with his failure to obey the
divine directive by asking, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I have
commanded you that you should not eat?” (3:11). Instead of taking
responsibility for what he had done he tried to shift the blame and portray
himself as the victim. He deflects the blame to Eve and to some extent to God
saying, “The woman you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate”
(3:12). He portrays himself as the victim of God’s gift, the woman. He then suggests
that he was forced by Eve to somehow participate. Eve also portrayed herself as
a victim by saying, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (3:13). Here is the essence
of the blame game: I am not responsible for my actions; I am a victim. Oprah Winfrey
wisely points out, “You are responsible for your life. You can’t keep blaming
somebody else for your dysfunction. Life is really about moving on.” People
cannot really move on unless they see and accept their part in the situation.
Theodore Roosevelt humorously observed, “If
you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble,
you wouldn’t sit for a month.” We certainly see lots of things that are wrong
in our world. Rather than place the blame on others, perhaps it would be wiser
to acknowledge our contribution to the problem. Motivational speaker, Jim Rohn said,
“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstance, the
seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge
of.” We must stop fixing blame and rather engage in fixing problems.
