On Ridicule


Ravi and Elaf had a quarrel, and refused to speak. Cleric Fila met Ravi, and told him that Elaf wept, saying that he wronged his friend Ravi, and did not know how to ask forgiveness. Cleric Fila then visited Elaf, and told him Ravi wept, knowing he wronged his friend Elaf and did not know how to ask forgiveness. By this method were the two men reconciled.

-Cleric Itut's Tales of the Exiles



I saw an opinion article in the newspaper this morning. The subject was gun control. But I'm not writing about gun control in this article. In fact, I'll leave it to your imagination if the author was pro or con.

But what I noticed wasn't the author so much. It was how he handled his argument.

The first six paragraphs were full of mocking, condescending ridicule of his ideological opposites. Not a summarizing and a response to arguments. Just a series of insults. They're "children." They're "ridiculous." They're "insignificant, hysterical, foolish, absurd."

Somewhere in paragraph seven, one of the arguments was mentioned, and attacked. Superficially attacked. The meat of the argument was unaddressed. It was the clothing, the presentation, that was ridiculed.

And people wonder why our discourse is uncivilized these days.

One of the 10 commandments is "Thou shalt not murder." Among the interpretations of this commandment is the sub-category: thou shalt not publicly humiliate another human being. Humiliating someone is comparable to murder.

Why? Well, there are sub-reasons. One is that embarrassing someone has a similar reaction to murdering them: their skin turns pale white. Another is that murdering a person's reputation is a wicked deed. Perhaps not the same extent as snuffing out a life, but a wicked deed all the same.

Naturally, it runs rampant across our culture. We don't debate anymore. We don't argue. We ridicule. We embarass. We attack children of our ideological opposites. We use children to pretend their innocence validates our positions.

Take the above snippet. It's not just guilt that keeps us from reconciliation. It's pride. It was not only the argument between Ravi and Elaf that kept them from making peace. Neither wanted to be embarrassed. Fila's cleverness finds a way where both can be friends without losing face. If we cared as much of preserving the dignity of our fellow people, whether they be friends or rivals, I think we'd fix a lot that's wrong with the world today.

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(The snippet is from my book, "Captive of the Orcs," More are available, so order your copy today!)

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Thanks for reading, another post coming next week.