Yes. I also saw what it did to women in my family, especially my mother's (working-class Catholics). The idea that making yourself into a doormat was a mark of virtue. The idea that (especially if you were a woman) you should put yourself last, and then guilt-trip others about your 'self-sacrifice' to control them. (Passive-aggression is something it's very strong on.)
The fact that my great-aunt drank herself to death because the priesthood convinced her her illegitimate daughter burning to death in an accident at the age of 11 was a divine judgement on her (the mother's) 'sin' because she'd got knocked up by her husband's brother after her husband was killed in WW1.
And it's possible to speak up for justice and humanity without all that bloody guilt-tripping and self-abasement, from a position of dignity and reason. As Julian wrote: Who, I ask, ever became poor by giving to his neighbours? Indeed I myself, who have often given lavishly to those in need, have recovered my gifts again many times over at the hands of the gods, though I am a poor man of business; nor have I ever repented of that lavish giving
( ... )
Comments 3
I couldn't agree more: it's the thing I most dislike about it, too. You're surely familiar with Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon?
Reply
The fact that my great-aunt drank herself to death because the priesthood convinced her her illegitimate daughter burning to death in an accident at the age of 11 was a divine judgement on her (the mother's) 'sin' because she'd got knocked up by her husband's brother after her husband was killed in WW1.
Reply
Who, I ask, ever became poor by giving to his neighbours? Indeed I myself, who have often given lavishly to those in need, have recovered my gifts again many times over at the hands of the gods, though I am a poor man of business; nor have I ever repented of that lavish giving ( ... )
Reply
Leave a comment