The Epidemic of Victimology

It seems the big topic of both churches and culture, in general, these days is that of victimology. Everyone's a victim. In church for the past few months, we have been hearing both liberal and even more traditionally conservative theologians speak of Christ's being a victim of the Roman Empire. This idea, of course, runs counter to what churches have taught for thousands of years, namely that God sent His son into the world to be the propitiation for the sins of humanity. Even Judas, the disciple, has been seen recently as a victim of God's big plan for Christ's life and death. Some say Judas should be viewed as a rather sympathetic person in the New Testament since he was just a tool in the plan.

In culture, we have been hearing for some years now about the victimization of children in the Catholic Church. They have been subjected to sexual abuse by priests. I can certainly agree with this view; children are victims when the people they trust most in the world, other than their parents, take advantage of their naivete.

What bothers me, however, most about the epidemic of victimology in our culture is the adult who claims to be a victim and perhaps is not. I am thinking most recently of the media discussion of Sandra Bullock and Elin Wood. I fall into the category of people who believe these wives are smart and must have had a clue as to their husbands' infidelities and fetishes. Also, I am amazed by the mistresses of Tiger who believe they are victims because they had the mistaken belief that they were the ONLY mistresses in Tiger's life.

The shifting of personal responsibility to others, unfortunately, has been a characteristic of humanity since the Garden of Eden. Will we ever learn to simply say, "I am sorry; I am responsible; I knew but turned my cheek the other way."