lol.
And, so what if satan was an influence?
If the devil makes you do a crime, that doesn't mean the devil does your time.
MOO
Invoking a force otherwordly and monstrous reinforces a world view in which sometimes and by design the self-styled righteous lack all agency (look wot Goody Proctor made me do!) at the exact moment their own fondest desires or impulses butt up against another person's autonomy. Even then, the real victim is not the recipient of violence, predation, or manipulation, but the extensions of the offender: HIS Family, HIS church, HIS community. The offense is characterized as a moral failure. The tragedy belongs not to the victim, a disposable non-entity, but to the offender's reputation and standing.
All is rendered in the passive voice and subjunctive mood; something, arguably bad or maybe actually natural, may have happened to someone else, but who can tell who was provoked into doing what or why and to whom? It's like a nightmare parody of the worst kind of relativism, a view from nowhere where nothing can be judged immoral because even the basic facts are intentionally not agreed upon.
Moreover, any attempt at characterizing reality, pinning down facts, much less imparting responsibility or asking the offender to make amends feeds into their Accidentally, Like a Martyr victim fantasies. To speak frankly of what really happened is shameful, vulgar, and base.
It's an incredibly and obviously cynical approach to outsiders but reaches just fine and dandy its intended audience, other cult members and their powerful, well-heeled allies. Fodder for future culture wars coming and going. Hark, an imperfect patriarchal vessel; mark, this fallen underage agent of Satan!
www.dailymail.co.uk
Zero personal responsibility.
