Submission of the Self
There are many times and many places in our lives where one can wish to submit. Submit to the system, to the rules, to another person. It appears easier, in many ways. When we give up our own filter of moral judgment, we allow another’s judgment to step in, let them make the decisions. While it is necessary to submit to reality and to ourselves, to accept our limitations and the consequences of our actions, it is just as necessary to not use submission as an excuse to abrogate responsibility for ourselves. Even though the consequences may not be what we would wish for, they are still the consequences we earn.
Submission is directly tied to the concept of consequence. We fear consequences in our life, both not getting the consequence we desire and receiving the consequence we don’t. So we try to find ways to dodge the consequences, ways to change our realities to match what we desire. We play games with ourselves, find excuses where no such excuse can possibly exist. One of those games is submission.
Submission is an attempt to give to another our own responsibilities, to say that another person has the right to say what we can and cannot do. We say, “We’re just doing our job,” when we realize what we’re doing isn’t something we’d do otherwise. Or, “It’s the law,” even if it’s something we morally disagree with. We sometimes even come to finding a desire to give all our responsibility to another person, and become totally submissive to another’s will.
The problem is that we cannot truly give our will over to another at any time. While we say we are not responsible, that does not make it so. We cannot simply give up responsibility morally or legally, for we are what we do, not the spin we put on it.
When we try to give our responsibilities to another, we saddle them with something impossible.
Questions:
Why is submission wrong? Why is it impossible?
Why do we try to dodge moral culpability for our actions?
Why is the law not a good excuse for moral submission? Do you think such an excuse exists? Would you allow it if someone else used it and hurt you in the process?
Submission is directly tied to the concept of consequence. We fear consequences in our life, both not getting the consequence we desire and receiving the consequence we don’t. So we try to find ways to dodge the consequences, ways to change our realities to match what we desire. We play games with ourselves, find excuses where no such excuse can possibly exist. One of those games is submission.
Submission is an attempt to give to another our own responsibilities, to say that another person has the right to say what we can and cannot do. We say, “We’re just doing our job,” when we realize what we’re doing isn’t something we’d do otherwise. Or, “It’s the law,” even if it’s something we morally disagree with. We sometimes even come to finding a desire to give all our responsibility to another person, and become totally submissive to another’s will.
The problem is that we cannot truly give our will over to another at any time. While we say we are not responsible, that does not make it so. We cannot simply give up responsibility morally or legally, for we are what we do, not the spin we put on it.
When we try to give our responsibilities to another, we saddle them with something impossible.
Questions:
Why is submission wrong? Why is it impossible?
Why do we try to dodge moral culpability for our actions?
Why is the law not a good excuse for moral submission? Do you think such an excuse exists? Would you allow it if someone else used it and hurt you in the process?
posted by Vieva @ 3:06 PM
3 Comments:
At 1:21 PM,
Star said…
Okay. Brain slightly less filled with holes today. Let's see if I can do this...
I realize that none of these essays are intended to stand alone, but I think this one does even less so than the others. It seems almost as if this one and the previous one are two parts of the same thing, to me. Kind of... Submission is good, but only if it's genuine and only as long as it isn't taken too far.
Questions:
1. See above--submission is, in and of itself not a bad thing. Submission to the Divine is a necessity, as is submission to reality; there are also some situations in which it may be necessary to submit to human authority. However, it isn't good to take it too far, or start using it as... a crutch, for want of a better word, to help you get through your life without ever having to take responsibility for anything. I also don't think that submission as a general concept is impossible... But no matter how much you submit, it's impossible to give up your responsibility. It's still yours no matter what you do. So in that sense, submission is impossible--impossible in the form that makes it a way to avoid responsibility.
2. We try to dodge moral culpability for our actions... I think because we want to be good people, or at least appear to be good people. Somehow our instincts say that it's better to not have done anything at all than to do something and take responsibility for it. And while that's true in some cases... It only works if you genuinely didn't do anything.
3. Ooof. What a question. I think that's more than I really have space to deal with here... Essentially, though, the law isn't a good excuse because there isn't a good excuse. There isn't even an excuse. Which is not to say that moral submission is never understandable--but there are only explanations, not excuses. You cannot, and should not, be excused for making moral decisions, whether they involve submission or not. And I think that really sums up how I'd feel if someone did something like that and it affected me--I might understand, but I could not excuse them. By which I don't mean I'd necessarily be mad at them for the rest of my life or anything, but just that I don't think excuses apply... Does that make any sense at all? I'm having another "am I speaking Centauri?" day...
At 11:43 AM,
Vieva said…
actually, I pretty much totally agree with you.
There are explanations, NEVER excuses .. one can forgive, but you can't really condone.
At 12:42 PM,
Star said…
I made sense! Whee!
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