Reasoning away responsibility

There is an important pattern to notice in the logic of the Lamanites. In their thinking they were consistently victims and they always had someone else to blame. That mental process of assigning volition and responsibility to others provides the excuse to abandon moral boundaries.

It is important to recognize two things about this pattern of thinking:

1. The pattern can be established without any foundation in reality – even less than the Lamanites had in complaining that their younger brother had taken the lead among the people.
2. The pattern is destructive to those who engage in it even if the offenses it is based upon were genuinely true and genuinely malicious.

I see that thinking pattern in Alex who blames us (primarily the parents but also the church) for everything not good in his life and conclude that he is fully justified in acting as disrespectfully as he wants, in taking anything he can get from us, and in making demands of what we owe him.

I see the same pattern of thinking in Trump who has been one of the most materially privileged people on earth throughout his life. He has always received far more deference than anyone else could expect and yet he claims to be a victim at all times personally when anyone expects him to adhere to any standard. He also talks about the country as a perpetual victim in the international community despite our preeminent standing internationally (which at one time was well earned).