(Since the election was yesterday...)

[noticed at Paradoxology in this post]

Ours is a culture obsessed with blame. And it's everywhere -- in our schools, our courts, our homes, and yes... in our churches. The overly litiguous nature of American society in particular is one of the many ways we "practice" blame and even seek to benefit from it financially.

Now, I would want to immediately distinquish here between the pursuit of justice and the self-absolving transference of blame. It's this later type of blame that troubles me most -- the blaming of individuals or groups or institutions or entities RATHER THAN the thoughtful self-examination and owning of personal responsibility when called for. Observing an inappropriate "victim-mentality" in people does not in any way suggest that "victimization" isn't a serious societal problem. It's a both-and reality. I believe the same is true with blame -- the fact that there is a place for the appropriate assigning of blame in no way excuses the self-absolving, immoral blame that seems to ever be on the increase in popular culture.