Guilt by association
Ever been there? Ever felt it?
I was listening to some testimony today. I don’t feel it necessary to name what it was I was listening to because it does not matter. Typical cadence was question asked, answer started, then questioner jumps back in to make their point rather than have an answer. Then why not just make a statement of what you feel you need to prove and ask no question. This situation, it was abundantly obvious that there was no interest in the answer. When they jumped back in, it had NOTHING to do with the question they asked. Why didn’t they just ask what they wanted to know? Because they already knew the answer and it was not relevant, no connection.
When you take a book, read 2 or 5 or 10 % of it and then decide you know better than the person who wrote it what the story is. This is where we are.
We are not interested in the entire story. Context takes too much time and depending on what it is critical thinking. Maybe even a bit of imagination to think beyond taking what has been said and just accepting it for law, gospel or what is right.
Sometimes we are so determined to take down our enemy, real or imagined, we grab what we can that supports our own guilt, our own agenda, even if the target has no connection or relationship. It’s the ‘gotcha’. An oh how proud ore some out there when they think they ‘gotcha’.
Does that solve the problem, the issue at hand? No. It is diversion for not.
So one desperately needed to accuse someone of something they did not do, but by proximity were once removed. Your neighbor who you get along with or is your best friend, does something unsavory and because you live next door and are friends, how could you have not have also either participated or also done that unsavory thing? And when asked about it, they yell at you about that connection … ‘gotcha!’
Everyone looks bad and what really happened that needed to be addressed was’t and is buried in nonsense.
Guilt by association, ever felt it? I believe I have. It may not be real, even if not there may have been question. But of course I was never asked that question. How does one ask that question? What does one say anyway?