Don'T Think Yourself a Victim
One of the greatest causes of evil,
one of the greatest drivers of our sin,
emerges from an unexpected source,
from the idea of being a ‘victim.’
It doesn’t make sense to most folks at first,
are not victims worthy of sympathy?
But it is not you who are put at risk,
it is the person who claims,”Yeah, that’s me.”
It’s the one who thinks themselves the victim
who may be walking down an ugly track.
And usually, once they start on their way
it’s near impossible to bring them back.
And while we all feel sorry for people
who may have genuinely been abused,
the problem with being a victim is
the bad behaviors that then are excused.
When a person claims they are a victim
agency is the first thing they give up.
Now suddenly their actions don’t matter,
and it’s the world’s fault that things are so tough.
Heck this is why so many people now
go out of their way to claim victimhood.
It gives them a way to shift off all blame,
and for the human soul that is not good.
Thinking that someone else is oppressing you
liberates all responsibility.
If some other power made you this way
then you can excuse immorality.
You can rob a store, abandon your kids,
shoot up drugs all of the day-light hours…
But it’s not your fault, they brought you to this,
trying to change things is ‘not in your power.’
And when anybody calls out your crap
you can shout,”Stop blaming the victim, jerk!
You don’t know what it’s like being oppressed!
It is society’s fault that I hurt!”
And then there you are, caught in a dark trap,
one that’s entirely of your making,
using the claim that you are a victim
to hide yourself from a life that’s breaking.
Though it may be a neat trick you can use,
inside it destroys all your self-respect.
Your mind knows deep down that you are no good,
but you won’t dare let it go self-reflect.
Doing that would mean admitting the fault,
and that’s a crushing hit to most egos,
so then you search for some kind of distraction,
it’s amazing the lengths to which you’ll go.
Maybe you’ll riot, burn down a city,
maybe you’ll demand people be silenced,
maybe you’ll demonize your whole family,
or start a website blaming it all on men.
How you distract doesn’t matter that much,
it’s just a symptom of mental disease.
The ‘victimhood’ lets you excuse evil,
let’s you act any old way that you please.
It’s just a cover for dark impulses,
so corrupting that it is fair to say
even if you’re are an actual victim
you should still never think of yourself that way.
Copyright © David Welch | Year Posted 2020
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