The guilt – 2

But why such an aversion to guilt? We can go back, to the biblical times of Adam and Eve,to the story of those two characters. Let us remember that they both lived in «paradise», from which they were expelled after committing not a series, but a single «sin», to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. When God asks Adam why he did it, Adam does not take responsibility for it, but claims to have been tempted by the woman God had given him. Then Eve follows the same pattern as Adam and projects her action on the serpent.

The primary weight of this guilt is that it is not forgiven, it is not dis-blame. That is to say, there is not even the possibility of an attempt at reparation for the fault committed. This is the main feeling that revolves around guilt – and that many so well exploit – that of the irreparable. In the face of the irreparable, there remains only punishment, the expulsion from paradise, the painful births for Eve, and having to work to survive for Adam. Moreover, the punishment is for life, with no option to review the sentence, and of course, including the offspring.

Christians, who go for the 2 billion in the world, include in their educational system the scheme of guilt. Catholics have the concept of original sin, that is, a guilt of birth. We are talking about billions of people who have no idea that they are subconsciously carrying the weight of a school that imposes on them the idea of the irreparable and its consequent punishment, and that this same school is transmitting it to all spheres, turning the scheme of guilt into one of the most normal systems of thought in the West.

For someone, or something, to make us feel that we have made an irreparable mistake is an oppressive thing. However, if, in committing a fault, we are trained to make good whatever the mistake, the feeling is completely different. But, be careful, the subconscious has already been sown from an early age; adolescents, young people, not to mention adults, operate with the system installed in childhood. In fact, it is a matter of pity and disgust to see middle-aged couples still «playing» with the sickly entertainment of victim and perpetrator, judges and defendants, to the point of finding the guilty party in a failed relationship.

It should be understood that the comfort of blaming the other brings with it the possibility of awakening his reactivity, making him in turn seek to blame us, with the risk of a spiral back and forth to the infinity of boredom and bad taste. In this scenario, it is a healthy alternative to leave open the possibility that it could be true that we are the only ones responsible for what happens to us; how fantastic that nobody could blame us for their misfortunes; how terrible it is not to be able to blame anyone for our failures; how wonderful of a choice!