All too often, harm done to innocents is dressed up as holiness, wrapped in a fake aura of ethics, kindness, and positivity. Because evil rarely looks like the typical wicked witches and ogres in children’s stories; instead, it tends to hide behind a friendly face. And it is usually not expressed through yelling or the wicked laughter of Snow White’s stepmother, but often through a gentle way of speaking, with no word sounding louder than another, radiating moderation. Quite often, it even comes with smiles and pleasant manners. Frequently, the more evil a person is, the more likable they seem, with the most psychopathic being masters of the art of appearing charming.

All of this is accompanied by a discourse overflowing with good intentions and people-pleasing, in line with whatever is politically, socially, and religiously correct in each specific place and time. If it is a society that values solidarity, self-righteousness will lead us to preach it and perform some small, sugar-coated act of charity. Read more at…

LET US REPAIR THE DAMAGE!: Small charitable acts do not erase the harm caused

And we will turn our own abuses—or those committed by the groups we identify with (extensions of ourselves)—upside down to cover them up with justifying narratives. Read more at…

LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARMING!: Let us dismantle the narratives that justify cruelty

LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us undo the narratives that justify theft

And when someone speaks out against those abuses, the little saint will turn the tables, opposing the person fighting an injustice with a manipulative discourse in which the problem is not the abuse, but the one who reports it.

Read “HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING?” Let us denounce injustices

That modus operandi can be divided into two distinct categories:

1) The partisan approach, which consists of applying double standards, since the party in question does the above with abuses in which they are directly (as perpetrator) or indirectly (as accomplice—usually within the tribes they belong to, that is, the groups they identify with) involved. By contrast, they do not act in the same way with abuses committed by rival groups. One example is Christians who oppose reporting injustices within their own religion, but not those within Islam, which they are also happy to join in denouncing.

Read FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Let us be impartial and not apply double standards

2) generalized naïve do-goodism, adopting that complicit attitude toward all kinds of abuses in general, or toward a good portion of them.

Read THE ART OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us not be naïve do-gooders, but good

Read THE REVOLUTION OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us not be accomplices to injustice or aid it

In both cases, two typical sanctimonious arguments in response to reporting injustices are, on the one hand, forgiveness and love and, on the other, that one should not be against anything.

FORGIVENESS AND LOVE

Some say that calling out abuse is contrary to forgiveness or love, or that it can even promote hatred. But assaults on innocents are not resolved simply by forgiving. Rather, it is necessary for the perpetrator to sincerely repent, make amends, repair the harm caused, and apologize. It is at that point that the victim’s forgiveness naturally tends to arrive. It is the fruit the tree produces once the soil has been plowed, fertilized, and watered.

As for love, it is generally good, but it does not have to be unconditional toward aggressors. What is more, in cases of abuse—especially if it is cruel—affection above all must be toward innocent victims, aimed at protecting them from the perpetrator.

Affection usually arises naturally from ongoing contact with other sentient beings, as long as some do not harm others. Therefore, for there to be love, the path is to avoid abuse rather than pretending that we love others even though they trample on us. Let us go to the real oasis by the right path instead of following a mirage that never becomes reality because it is merely a mental illusion.

Read LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARMING! Let us not tell others how they have to feel

As for hatred, when an abuse is reported—especially when it is flagrantly cruel and causes significant suffering—it may provoke rejection, antipathy, or sometimes even hatred toward the aggressor. It can also provoke it toward any element that causes such evil, such as ideas, books, ideologies, movements, etc.

But that does not mean we should keep quiet and stop denouncing injustices. Because to fight them, the first step is to bring them to the surface—both them and their causes—disapprove of them, and adopt a critical stance toward them. It may be bitter medicine, but it is necessary for healing.

NOT AGAINST INJUSTICE, BUT FOR JUSTICE

Some say that instead of fighting against injustice, one should fight for justice. That one should not take a stand against villainy, but for goodness. They claim that one should not be anti-anything or against anything, but rather in favor of good things, because one must always be positive and never negative. And if someone attacks a wrongdoing, it may sound bad to them—especially if it comes from a group, ideology, or religion they identify with.

But then, if someone kidnaps a poor girl to repeatedly rape and assault her, are we not supposed to be against that and against the rapist? Are we also not supposed to take a stand against Nazism or the Holocaust?

A PERSON OF INTEGRITY IS, AT THE SAME TIME, AGAINST ANY ABUSE AND IN FAVOR OF JUSTICE! Because both are two sides of the same coin.

By contrast, a naïvely do-good and understanding attitude toward evil is complicit in it. Therefore, let us speak plainly and address harms both positively and negatively, taking a stand both against them and in favor of a culture of respect.

Read LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us not be positive about injustice

Read HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING? Let us speak up clearly in the face of injustice

Let us not be wolves in sheep’s clothing. Instead, let us be doves with the innocent and lions with perpetrators until they repair the harm they have caused. Human beings, from a certain age onward—unlike other species—tend to put on masks, to be false as a protection mechanism so we can fit in socially and be selfish without it showing. But we can reverse that very human tendency toward petty hypocrisy, taking off the burqa behind which we hide so we can be more ourselves, more authentic.

Read FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Let us enjoy positive selfishness and avoid negative selfishness

Instead of a naïvely do-good and sanctimonious attitude toward abuse, it is better to disapprove of it—without qualifications if it is serious—and stop applying different standards.

Thank you for sharing to achieve a better, healthier world with less injustice,