I think this is a question of differences in the definitions of 'blame'. Most people do equate blame with (violent?) judgment and anger and so on (that is, when these things get emotionally charged). Guilt, on the other hand, isn't quite what I was talking about in the first place, and I'm more ambivalent about.
I'm not sure whether anyone's 'guilty' of ignorance, but I think this is a question of overall pov & outlook. I know that ideologies are man-created, but they're not individually created (if said individual is a 'follower'), so I couldn't say an individual is guilty. It's a meta sort of guilt, anyway-- guilty for something one -is- and is unaware one -does-.
Of course, I personally would sooner get angry than consciously judge someone for a faulty belief. I can get really pissed off at homophobes, but I don't think they're guilty because they didn't choose to be, per se. The question of choice determines the question of 'guilt', to me, though my own personal feelings are separate from this judgment. You cannot be truly guilty for a belief, however insane; but you can & should be stopped and more importantly, reprogrammed. This has a very slim chance of happening in most cases, though-- I never claimed to have solutions to society's ills or anything.
I'm just saying that you cannot fight ideologies by fighting individuals-- if you fight someone's instinctive (illogically held) belief, they will only hold on to it tighter. Therefore no amount of blaming the person (insofar as saying they're responsible for what they believe and thus have the power to change it) is going to fix anything. The result of calling an illogical belief wrong is a greater adherence to said belief.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2004-11-05 05:29 pm (UTC)I'm not sure whether anyone's 'guilty' of ignorance, but I think this is a question of overall pov & outlook. I know that ideologies are man-created, but they're not individually created (if said individual is a 'follower'), so I couldn't say an individual is guilty. It's a meta sort of guilt, anyway-- guilty for something one -is- and is unaware one -does-.
Of course, I personally would sooner get angry than consciously judge someone for a faulty belief. I can get really pissed off at homophobes, but I don't think they're guilty because they didn't choose to be, per se. The question of choice determines the question of 'guilt', to me, though my own personal feelings are separate from this judgment. You cannot be truly guilty for a belief, however insane; but you can & should be stopped and more importantly, reprogrammed. This has a very slim chance of happening in most cases, though-- I never claimed to have solutions to society's ills or anything.
I'm just saying that you cannot fight ideologies by fighting individuals-- if you fight someone's instinctive (illogically held) belief, they will only hold on to it tighter. Therefore no amount of blaming the person (insofar as saying they're responsible for what they believe and thus have the power to change it) is going to fix anything. The result of calling an illogical belief wrong is a greater adherence to said belief.