Collective Guilt

[Jonn]

I have a major problem with this concept:

Collective guilt is
the controversial idea that members of a group share responsibility for wrongdoing committed by other members, even if not directly involved,

 

[Jonn]

^
Thank you.

 

[Jonn]

Being half German, you can understand my interest in this fallacious/erroneous concept.

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

As a child a kinda beat myself up (in the figurative mental sense) about exactly what I think you mean because I am part myself (I even had a dream once in which I was being allowed to time travel and in which God expected me to undo the things that had happened years before I was ever even born), but ultimately it is individual choices to do right or wrong that we are held accountable for.

 

[Jonn]

I said this to the A.I.:
Original sin is a form of collective guilt. I dare you to deny that.

This was the reply:

Let me take your dare — and give you a thoughtful, honest answer that doesn’t dodge the complexity.

Original sin looks like collective guilt, but in mainstream Christian theology it is not collective guilt.

Why Original Sin Is Not Collective Guilt (Theologically Speaking)​

1. Collective guilt = being morally guilty for someone else’s actions.​

To which I replied:
Then why does all humanity have to suffer because of the original sin of our ancestors?

To be continued.
My alarm is going off.

 

[Jonn]

As a child a kinda beat myself up (in the figurative mental sense) about exactly what I think you mean because I am part myself (I even had a dream once in which I was being allowed to time travel and in which God expected me to undo the things that had happened years before I was ever even born), but ultimately it is individual choices to do right or wrong that we are held accountable for.

As a child, I suffered enormously, too.
What can I say? Young and dumb...

 

[Jonn]

Damn, this A.I. is tricky. lol
Here is what it said:

Christianity teaches that humanity inherits the consequences of original sin, not the guilt of it. That distinction is the entire key.

But you’re absolutely right that, on the surface, it feels like collective guilt. So let’s unpack it properly.

So, Charly, you don't mind me calling you Charly, do you? If my mother and father were imprisoned in gaol for a crime, and I was born in gaol as a result, should I stay there with them?
If so, that sounds a bit iffy, if you don't mind my saying so.

 

[thejuice]

Its no coincidence the parallel rise in hostility and fragmentation between demographic groups and the insistence that every human relationship is a power struggle and that a narrow identity defines your ultimate meaning and station in life. Its hopelessly demoralising and history shows it inevitably leads to violent conflict.

 

[Xinyta]

Ah yes. Tribalism. You are guilty by association, because your part of a tribe that opposes another.

 

[Dagan]

All of this, yes, very familiar. On top of it all, we have such genius leaders in most countries worldwide, all of them thinking that they are immune to consequences themselves. What an eye-opening time to be alive!? Ironically, it's the same time period that we deal with masses of folks calling themselves "woke" (and yet they are so, so ignorant).

 

[Matthias]

I said this to the A.I.:
Original sin is a form of collective guilt. I dare you to deny that.

This was the reply:

To which I replied:
Then why does all humanity have to suffer because of the original sin of our ancestors?

The answer to your question is, for the same reason children have to suffer from their parent's decisions or citizens for their country's decisions. Suppose parents are lazy or manage their finances poorly. Their children will naturally suffer the consequences, such as having to grow up in poverty. If parent's have low emotional intelligence or bad character because they refused to work on themselves, their children will naturally suffer the consequences of it (such as difficulty with relationships, trouble controlling their emotions, low self-esteem, etc.). Similarly, if a country goes to war and loses, the citizens will have to suffer the consequences of that decision. None of this means the children or citizens were morally responsible for the actions of others despite having to share the consequences.

On the other hand, if citizens vote for a government that vows to invade and wipe out an innocent country, one might say they are morally responsible when their government takes the action they voted for and thus deserve to suffer the consequences of that decision.