The Conceit of Victimhood

Domestic Violence is a serious problem in our modern world. In the majority of cases the scenario is exactly the same: a tyrannical, over-bearing man seeks to dominate a weaker, more-vulnerable woman. But, as they say, “it takes two to Tango!” Most of the time these incidents escalate into tragic proportions because the woman fails to respond in a logical manner to the emerging threat. Instead of simply leaving the relationship, the woman, typically, internalizes her situation, imagining that part of the reason for her abuse must lie within her own failures and inadequacies as a woman. ie. “blaming the victim” This is the classic syndrome of victimization and co-dependency. At it’s perverted core, it is a selfish point of view which perpetuates the very conditions for continuing the abuse. It is the irrational idea that, somehow, the culprit is excused from taking full responsibility because he is involuntarily manipulated by the distinct choices and actions of the Victim!

Flash forward to our War on Terror, or as our President has most recently, and more- accurately, termed it: “the War on Islamic Fascism.” There are those who believe that our very existence in the Middle East is ‘the reason’ for the Terrorist attacks against us! They are seriously suggesting that it is our reactionary impulse to “fight back” which is motivating all the grotesque actions of the jihad! Funny, how the Terrorists of the 1985- 1996 period, (Achille Lauro, Pan Am 103, USS Cole, World Trade Center bombing #1, and the Khobar Towers), all had a premonition of the Iraqi invasion, and proceeded then to act upon it- ahead of time! My, these are a conscientious lot, aren’t they? It’s as if the Liberal critics are saying: “these poor, Terrorists can’t help themselves, they’re strapping bombs onto their bellies and blowing up innocent civilians because they’re probably just anticipating all the bad, over-cooked dinners we’ll be serving them in the future!” Ahh, I guess it really is all our fault then, huh? We should patronize them more, don’t you think? “Won’t Daddy Terrorist please tell me…what Daddy Terrorist wants for din din…so Daddy Terrorist won’t have to go out and incinerate another ol’ icky car bomb?” Can’t you just hear the refrain: “sure Mahmoud has his bad side, but I can change him, I know I can!”

An element of the Victimhood belief system is the conceited notion that one’s “appease- ment” will be so intoxicatingly beautiful and alluring that the offending party will have no choice but to immediately surrender all aggression and melt like butter in your forgiving arms! A senior Bush official put it this way in a recent statement following the thwarted London plot: “the idea that the jihadists would all be peaceful, warm, lovable, God-fearing people if it weren’t for U.S. policies, strikes me as not a valid idea. [Liberals] do not have the understanding or the commitment to take on these forces!”

Indeed, it is just as foolhearty to expect an Islamo-fascist to be magically transformed by an appeasing, geopolitical gesture as it is to expect an abusing spouse to spawn into a Prince simply because you have an obsession with kissing a frog! There’s a quote from my all-time, favorite movie, “First Knight” that sums it up best: “there is a peace that is only to be found on the other side of war.” That is the type of peace that is secured by whatever means is necessary for the cause of triumphing over evil. The type of “peace” that a battered wife endures by placating her boorish husband is no more preferable than the “peace” that the Liberals want for our country now as we face Islamic annihilation. Both strategies ignore the culpability of the aggressor and endeavor to “buy-off” the evil-doer with a short-term, self-limiting peace that comes at the expense of long-term freedom and justice. Winston Churchill characterized this bankrupt, appeasement process as the idea of “throwing others to the alligator in the hope that it will eat you last.”

In domestic relationships, as in international affairs, “feeding the alligator,” ultimately proves to be a stupid strategy. It is cowardice, wrong-headed and selfish. It’s a course of action that only strengthens the beast, until that fateful day when it comes down to- you or him! (send comments to WFC831297@aol.com)