As I was walking through the parking lot today, I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Don’t blame me, I voted for Ron Paul!” I chuckled at the pettiness of the message. The sticker might as well have read, “I’m a sore loser.” or “I was right, and you were wrong.” What is it about humans that makes us feel the need to be right? What is it that makes us want to avoid blame and put it on others? I can’t count how many hours I’ve wasted in arguments over who is right or who is to blame for something that has happened to me. It never really matters, though, because 90% off the time, we never agree on who is to blame, and when we do agree, it’s still a matter of one of us saying sorry, which is a different issue. What a mess!
It reminds me of my relationship with God. I like to blame Him for things that happen to me that I don’t like. It’s a knee-jerk reaction, but it reveals something about the way I think of God. If I blame Him for the bad stuff, shouldn’t I also “blame” Him for the good stuff? And if I started to keep score, I would realize just how much more good stuff God does for me rather than bad stuff. If I got really philosophical I would ask if the “bad stuff” is even really bad in the overall story of my life. Lastly, I would ask myself if blaming God for good or bad stuff makes my life any better at all.
Maybe it’s all just stuff, not good or bad, and I can learn from it all. Maybe it’s just a journey that God wants to be a part of. Maybe it’s more about my relationship with God than who’s to blame for what happens to me. Maybe it’s about God taking all the blame on Himself to show me how much He loves me. When I look at it like that, the blame game just seems like such small potatoes.
You are right that people don’t own up to responsibility. I know your story is about blame and not about a political message, however, the example used is a bit distracting. I think that “don’t blame me” political bumper stickers are a figure of speech. I’m not sure if they would get blamed in the first place. We are facing devastatingly corrupt and destructive leadership. That bumper sticker perhaps is nothing more than a peaceful protest.
@Hunter, You hit the nail on the head when you say it’s “a figure of speech”. That’s exactly my point. We use it quite often without really thinking about what we’re saying. We can say it about anything, and we do. The point I’m trying to make is that when it comes to God, we don’t need to worry about blame at all.
The interesting part to me is that when we stop blaming God for stuff, it gets harder to blame other people for stuff. Blame is just another way to cast judgment on someone. It’s saying they are wrong and you are right, which assumes that you have the authority to do so. Let’s say the owner of that “Don’t blame me” bumper sticker was actually right and Ron Paul would have been a much better president. What then? Does that actually change the state we’re in? Does that make anything better other than that person’s ego? I’m all for peaceful protests, but c’mon, how much is a bumper sticker going to accomplish? To me, it’s just childish.