Politics

of

GuiltandPity
BYRousas John Rushdoony
with
Foreword by Steve M. SchlisselROSS HOUSE BOOKSVALLECITO, CALIFORNIA1995

Copyright 1970 by Rousas John RushdoonyAll rights reserved No part of this book may
be reproduced in any formwithout permission in writing from the publisherPrinted in
the United States of AmericaReprinted 1995 Ross House BooksLibrary of Congress
Catalog Card Number: 95-070355ISBN: 1-879998-07-6

Other books by Rousas John Rushdoony

Institutes of Biblical Law

Law and SocietySystematic Theology

The Messianic Character of American Education

Christianity and the State

Salvation and Godly Rule

The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum

By What Standard Revolt Against MaturityThe One and the Many Roots of
Reconstruction

Law and Liberty

This Independent Republic

The Nature of the American System

available from
ROSS HOUSE BOOKS
PO Box 67Vallecito, California 95251

THE AUTHOR

Rousas J. Rushdoony is a well-known American scholar, writer, andauthor of over

thirty books. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from theUniversity of California and
received his theological training at thePacific School of Religion. An ordained
minister, he has been amissionary among the Paiute and Shoshone Indians as well as
pastorof two California churches. Dr. Rushdoony is President of
ChalcedonFoundation, an educational organization devoted to research, publishing,
and to cogent communication of a distinctly ChristianScholarship to the world at
large. His writing in the
Chalcedon Report
and his numerous books have spawned a generation of believers activein
reconstructing the world to the glory of Jesus Christ. He resides inVallecito,
California and is currently engaged in research, lecturing,and assisting others in
developing programs to put the Christian faithinto action.

Foreword
All idiot savants and many public school teachers bear witness to the truththat
the accumulation and retention of “facts” does not wisdom make. As theEnglish poet
Edward Young observed in
Night Thoughts,

The clouds may drop down titles and estates;Wealth may seek us; but wisdom must be
sought.
Wisdom is harder to come by than facts or data. Wisdom is understandingthe
relationships
of facts. Thus the beginning of wisdom is the fear of theLord. For nothing can be
correctly understood at all unless it is understood
inrelation
to the Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth, and alltherein
contained.Rousas John Rushdoony works squarely in the Reformed tradition
ofChristianity in which the infallible Word of God is seen not merely as a bookof
words to be memorized, but as a living Word of wisdom to be
applied
inHis creation.The Reformed faith, rightly understood, is pretty humbling stuff. It
saysthat it’s impossible for a sinner to save himself or even to be a cooperator
inhis justification. He is, by nature, dead in sin. Following Scripture,
theReformed faith also teaches that apart from God’s grace we could and wouldknow
nothing.
There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD
(Proverbs 21:30).As man endeavors to begin the knowledge enterprise apart from God,
as heseeks to live and move and have his being apart from or
against
the counselof the Lord, he moves in spiritual death and toward eternal death. Life
is theknowledge of God in Christ (John 17:3). The fullness of life which Jesuscame
to impart (John 10:10) is discovered in the application of God’s Wordto all areas
of life. God’s blessing is specifically characterized by Him asmanifest
fruitfulness and security touching upon every area of life: personal,societal,
urban, rural, agricultural, familial, occupational, financial, militaryand more.
God’s dreadful curse is described as futility, frustration, fear anddestruction in
all these areas.The path to blessedness for a believing people is through earnest
and devoutcompliance with God’s whole Word. The rationale for compliance is
verysimple: Life is extremely complicated and God alone understands it all,
partsand whole! A child of God seeks understanding
first
from the Lord. TheChristian’s view of knowledge, facts and truth begins exactly
where Ezekiel’sdid in the 37th chapter of his book. The Lord said unto Ezekiel,
“Son of man,can these bones live?,” and the wise priest answered, “O Lord God,
thouknowest.” God, the creator and definer of facts, alone knows and fully
v

understands the relationship of every fact to every other created fact and
toHimself, He knows the relationship of every course of action to every othercourse
of action, every life-style choice to every other life-style choice.Wisdom is found
in the Lord Jehovah alone.Today we are confronted by manifold theories which men
use to attempt toexplain everything, usually in terms of the spokesman’s specialty.
Thougheconomic theories differ widely, for example, not a few disagreeing
theoristsshare the conviction that economics explains all human behavior. The
samecould be said for sociologists, biologists, psychologists, political theorists,
physicists, et al. All such claims to one grand, comprehensive“motive-standard-
goal” are inherently idolatrous, necessarily false, andcommonly masks for power-
grabbing. The true God of Scripture is alone ourfirst rule, the provider of our
standards; our goal is simply to glorify Him andto enjoy Him forever.While we are
grateful for all truths which God permits men—servants andrebels—to discover,
various truths cannot be set in proper relation to oneanother contrary to God’s
directives as set forth in His complete Word, theBible. Thus an axiom among
Reformed Christians is “All of God’s Word forall of life.” Wisdom belongs
inherently to God, He graciously shares it withus in His Word. We learn how to live
fruitfully and securely
as we live inaccordance with the personal word of the personal God.God’s Word, the
Word of the Creator, cannot be restricted to relevancy inthe matter of personal
salvation alone. But as the Reformed world and lifeview has been progressively
displaced by more narrow views of God and Hisconcerns, we in the West have been
increasingly subjected to covenant breakdown.The genius of Rushdoony enters at this
point. He has recognized, as clearlyas anyone and more clearly than most, that God
has created
inescapablecategories which will necessarily be filled with content. The only
question is, shall the content be that of the pretended wisdom of man or the actual
wisdomof Almighty God.
Men will
always
have an ultimate authority, men willalways have an epistemological touchstone, men
will always have a personaland corporate means of atonement, men will always have
categories of goodand evil, legal and criminal, even of justification,
sanctification andglorification, and certainly of indoctrination. By recognizing
the simple truthof inescapable categories under God, Rushdoony has laid the
groundwork fortrue Christian reconstruction in succeeding centuries.Of course,
Rushdoony’s work did not suddenly appear. It too is
related
tothe works of others. Principally, of course, Rushdoony credits Dr. CorneliusVan
Til as his most profound influence. But both Van Til and Rushdoonywould be quick to
tell you that they were just hoisted on the shoulders ofgiants who had gone before.
All these giants of the faith operated from the
vi

premises that 1) God’s Law was applicable to societies as well as individuals,2)

it could not be violated with impunity and 3) the study of Scripture (God’sWord)
and history (God’s theater) would enable one to assess contemporary problems and
accurately predict certain consequences.The fiery vision of Robert L. Dabney,
planted in these premises, yieldedsome amazingly accurate “Reformed prophecies.”
Consider this 19th-centurystunner:
You may deem it a strange prophecy, but I predict that the time will comein this
once free America when the battle for religious liberty will haveto be fought over
again, and will probably be lost, because the peopleare already ignorant of its
true basis and conditions.
(PracticalPhilosophy, p.394)And no one, with the possible exception of G. Groen van
Prinsterer, sawmore clearly than Dabney where the anti-christian philosophy
ofegalitarianism (also called Jacobinism) would lead:
If

the Jacobin theory be true, then woman must be allowed access toevery male
avocation, including government, and war if she wishes it,to suffrage, to every
political office, to as absolute freedom from herhusband in the marriage relation
as she enjoyed before her union tohim, and to as absolute control of her own
property and earnings as thatclaimed by the single gentleman, as against her own
husband...My wish isto make all Christians face this plain question: Will you
surrender theinspiration of the Scriptures to these assaults of a social science
so-called? If not, what? ...Doubtless, during this long and tremendousconflict we
shall see the same thing repeated which we have seen inrecent decades: timid and
uncandid minds, anxious still to “ride a fence” after it is totally blown away by
the hurricane of anti-christianattack, attempting to reconcile opposites by various
exegeticalwrigglings. But we shall again see it end in futility, and candid
assailantand candid defender will both agree that the Bible means what it says,and
must either fall squarely or must stand by the overthrow of allattacking parties.
(Discussions, Vol. 3, p.501, 503)Armed with the identical worldview, anchored in
the Word of the God whorules over all, Abraham Kuyper saw in 1898 that
Modernism, which denies and abolishes every difference, cannot restuntil it has
made woman man and man woman, and, putting everydistinction on a common level,
kills life by placing it under the ban ofuniformity.
(Lectures on Calvinism, p.27. If you’re new to the Reformedfaith, make Kuyper’s
book your next read!)We are illustrating the fact that the Reformed world and life
view, builtupon an inviolable Word, teaches us to think in such a way that enables
us toaccurately identify ourselves, our contemporary circumstances, and the
likelyconsequences of social policy choices according to their agreement with
ortheir contrariness to the Word of God. That’s
the
lesson we must all learn from
vii

the book in your hands; it is the lesson of Scripture and history. Our Godreigns!
Allow me to provide just one more example of Reformed prophecy.Herman Bavinck wrote
an article in 1901,
Creation and Development,
whichwas published in
The Methodist Review
(of all places!). By “Development”Bavinck meant evolutionism. In it he offered this
stunningly perspicaciousassessment of the times:
Unless we are mistaken in our interpretation of the signs of the times,the
twentieth century, upon which we have just entered, is to witness a gigantic
conflict of spirits. Faith and unbelief, says Goethe, is thedeepest theme of the
history of the world. This it has been in thecenturies that lie behind us. This it
was in the one which we have justclosed and abandoned in the past. And this it will
be above all thingselse and in an entirely special sense in the twentieth century,
which has just disclosed itself to us.
1
For the conflict of convictions and intentionshas spread itself across an ever-
widening domain, and has assumed aneven more radical character. It is well known
that at present this conflictis no longer confined to one or another article of our
Christianconfession, to the authority of Scripture or tradition, to justification
orelection; and not even any longer to the Deity of Christ or the personality of
the Holy Spirit. But in the spiritual conflict which is nowwaging in every part of
the civilized world, the points at issue more andmore are the principles of
Christianity itself, and the very fundamentals ofall religion and all morality.
This conflict extends the whole length of theline. More serious and fiercer than
ever before the conflict is betweenthe old and new world-view. For man has
undertaken the giganticeffort of interpreting the whole world, and all things that
are therein, intheir origin, essence, and end, what is called purely and strictly
scientifically, that is, without God, without any invisible, supernatural,
spiritual element, and simply and alone from the pure data of matterand force.
Bavinck well understood that compromise with evolutionism, likecompromise with
egalitarianism, would result in the death of orthodoxy.Compromise, therefore, was
(and is) not an option for those who wouldremain true to God. Yet, the church
largely capitulated to evolution. Somerationalized their concessions on the basis
of a supposed dualism, viz., thatone could grant science the right to interpret
“the world” if theologians wereallowed to interpret “the soul.” Early in his
article, however, Bavinck warnssuch “conservatives” about where their compromises
would inevitably lead:
He who fully accepts the theory of development in the sensual,
2
observable world cannot dismiss it at once and without explanationwhen spiritual
phenomena appear. Even though provisionally a smalldomain is then set aside for
faith, this domain is bound to become ever

Remember, friends, that despite “the year 2000” fever, centuries beginwith “01”
years; the 21st century and the Third Christian Millennium will begin in 2001.
2
Sensual, as in 5 senses.
viii

smaller...One fortification after another must then be sacrificed, one lineof

defense after another be abandoned, and one concession afteranother be granted.
There is no immovable conviction in theseconservative dualists, no strength of
faith, no enthusiastic courage. Andhence, they are ever bound to lower the flag
before the radicals,
3
whohave the courage of their convictions, who shrink from no inferences,and who,
beginning and continuing without God, are determined also toend without God. Hence
these are the men of the future. Conservativesand liberals die out, but the
radicals and socialists
4
are to be leaders inthe twentieth century. They have agreed to a total and final
clearing outof whatever of the old Christian world-view consciously orunconsciously
still remains in our laws and morals, in our educationand civilization.
The temporary ascendancy of Humanism in the West has vindicated the premises,
method and soundness of every one of these Reformed prophecies.As if the personal
fulfillment of Bavinck’s warning that materialists will notleave the soul to
theologians, Nobel Laureate Dr. Francis (“Double-helixstructure of DNA”) Crick
defies all religious convictions by contending thatwhat we regard as soul is
nothing more than a neural machine.Despite the multiple vindications of his
prescience, many Reformedtraining centers today continue to function under the
delusion that one maycapitulate to the social and natural sciences of unbelief.
Rushdoony has takenhis stand with Dabney, Kuyper and Bavinck, sometimes seemingly
alone,often the subject of intense hatred. Uncompromising men have a way
ofeliciting hatred just by being faithful (John 15:18,19).
The Politics of Guilt and Pity,
though too long out of print, properlyremains one of his most influential
offerings. As you carefully read itscontents, I urge you to pay even closer
attention to its presuppositions and itsmethods. This will serve as a profitable
exercise to help you think God’sthoughts after Him, which is the Reformed (i.e.,
Biblical) ideal.If you are not a Reformed Christian and you are picking up
Politics of Guiltand Pity
for the first time, you’ve come to a great place to start your study ofthe Reformed
world and life view. In its pages you will discover a wealth ofanalysis of
relationships
of this area and that, under God.The first time I picked up this book, I was a
soteriologically-Calvinisticdispensationalist. I believed in the Sovereign God, the
Savior of sinners. I didnot, however, see God as caring about too much other than
that. By the timeI finished this book, I was shaken to my theological roots. It was
not so muchany
particular
observation made by Rushdoony which jolted me, but the factthat he was commenting
at all
on so many areas of life, with an open Bible inhis hand. Could it be that my
salvation was the beginning of somethingwondrously meaningful, in this life? Could
I serve God acceptably by
3
i.e., consistent evolutionists
4
“radicals and socialists” equal “evolutionists and egalitarians.”ix

teaching His people to do more than pray and wait for glory (thoughadmittedly, for
us, nothing can exceed that glory)?
Could it possibly be thecase that God has saved all of us to serve Him, and that he
has called us toreal, meaningful service in every human endeavor, in science and
math, inarts and letters, in business and economics, in justice and truth ?
This was seemingly too good to be true, yet it is true! My personal journalfrom
that period reveals a man reading the Scriptures over and again, eachtime with
increased enthusiasm and joy. I began to re-think any number of propositions, all
propositions now vibrantly emanating from the unshakablestarting point of the
glorious Creator God revealed in His Living and writtenWord—all of His Word. I
began laboring for the first time to see not justsnippets of theological truth, or
even how the loci of systematic theologymight be bound neatly together in a
confessional system, but to see how
allthe threads
of life integrate into a magnificent, gorgeous tapestry under God.This is my
Father’s world!As the worldview I was learning through his writings settled in to
myoutlook, I began to discover interesting
relationships
of various andintriguing sorts. Just one small example: I learned that the people
of thecovenant tended to fall into similar errors over time. In fact, I came
torecognize that there existed a strong and fascinating parallel between
theattitudes of my unbelieving kinsmen toward the
Gentiles
at the time of Christand the attitudes of many contemporary Christians toward
civil government.
Both found the respective subjects contemptible. Both thought the truly godlyshould
have no association with subjects. Both used Scripture as an excuse toseparate
themselves from what Scripture, rightly understood, called uponthem to evangelize,
i.e., convert to submission to God for His glory. Further,many Jews believed that
the Gentiles could be truly “covenantalized” onlywhen the Messiah would
physically
reign on earth. Similarly, manyChristians believe civil rule will only be
“civilized” in accordance with God’sLaw (if then) when Jesus
physically
reigns on earth. And finally, when certainJews actually obeyed God and attempted to
bring the Gentiles into the realmof covenant obedience and light, it provoked the
most profound hatred andcontempt in those who wanted Gentiles off-limits (note well
what the laststraw was for the Jews as they listened to Paul’s defense in Acts
22:1-23). Soalso, it seems that nothing more easily ignites the ire of some
modernChristians as the serious suggestion that civil rulers
ought
to obey God’s Lawand will be judged in their capacity as rulers by that very
standard.Though you’ll find this book altogether profitable—parts and whole—Iurge
you to pay particularly careful attention to the first two chapters.Together they
form a stable ground for the recovery of
true
Christianfreedom. They also constitute a potent refutation of humanistic
psychology,which is every bit as anti-Christian as evolutionism and egalitarianism.
x
Thankfully, thanks to Rushdoony, Adams, the Bobgans and others, many arenow coming
to recognize this.In the first golden chapter of this book, Rushdoony, working from
the premise of the need for atonement as inescapable to man, explains howunbelief,
tragically, is willing to endure anything, or to inflict anything, in itsattempt to
be freed from guilt and shame. But again, God’s establishedcategory must be filled
with God’s provided content. It is the blood of Christ
alone
which brings
freedom
from the power of sin and guilt, that opens for usa way of escape from the spiral
leading to death apart from Him.Along the way, Rushdoony sounds the clarion call of
liberty for all whoremain oppressed by Christian leaders who wrongfully lord it
over the soulsof God’s righteous ones (see Ezekiel 13:22). Morbid
introspectionists, beware! Chapters one and two just might surprise you with joy! I
pray that theentire book will not only instruct you in the method and content of a
Biblicalworldview, but actually bring you further into the glorious freedom of
thechildren of God. Those who walk in wisdom’s ways become immune to the politics
of guilt and pity.Perhaps the unique contribution of Rousas John Rushdoony to
theKingdom of God can be aptly summarized by saying that he has lived his life
building upon an inherited Reformed worldview, keeping Christ’s wordsalways before
him:
What God has joined together, let not man separate.
Don’tseparate the Old and New Testaments—labor to understand their
relationship.Don’t separate law and grace—strive to properly understand
theirrelationship. Don’t separate God’s Word from God’s world—make everyeffort to
bring God’s Word to bear on
every domain and arena
under Him.Our task as Christians is not simply to accumulate Biblical facts and
data,not simply to memorize verses. Surely we may start there, in faith. But wemust
go on to maturity in Christ. Our task is to pursue wisdom, to seek toapply the Word
of the Almighty God—the King of kings and Lord of lords—to every square inch of
life.May God use the reprinting of this book to bring many to self
consciouslyascribe to Him the “power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honour,and glory, and blessing” forever. Amen.Steve M. SchlisselBrooklyn, New York
June, 1995
xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. THE POLITICS OF GUILT_______________________ 1

1.

MASOCHISM AND ATONEMENT____________ 12.

SCAPEGOATS______________________________ 113.

THE RETURN OF SLAVERY_________________ 224.

HELL AND POLITICS_______________________ 325.

BLOODGUILTINESS ________________________ 396.

FALSE RESPONSIBILITY ____________________ 447.

THE SABBATH, SLAVERY, ANDTHE PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION________ 47

8. THE POLITICS OF SUICIDE__________________ 59

II. THE POLITICS OF PITY_________________________ 64

1.

THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF CHARITY_______ 642.

IDENTIFICATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS— 733.

THE HERESY OF LOVE ANDTHE NEW TYRANNY ___________________ 90

4.

THE PURPOSES OF LAW___________________ 975.

THE MEANING OF JUSTICE_________________ 1166.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF MAN TO LAW______ 1397.

TRUTH AND LIBERTY______________________ 1538.

LIBERTY AND PROPERTY__________________1649.

CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ETHICS:LOVE, JUSTICE, AND COERCION__________ 174

10. THE UNITED NATIONS:

A RELIGIOUS DREAM ____________________ 184

III. THE POLITICS OF MONEY______________________200

1.

MONEY AND POWER______________________2002.

MONEY AND CENTRALIZATION OF POWER 2083.

THE MORAL FOUNDATIONS OF MONEY______217

4.

THE SOVIET VIEW OF MONEY _____________ 2265.

MONEY AND PROGRESS ___________________ 234

6.

A BIBLICAL VIEW OF

THE PROBLEM OF INTEREST ____________ 243

7.

USURY AND COSMIC IMPERSONALISM ______ 2468.

LIMITED LIABILITYAND UNLIMITED MONEY ________________ 254

IV. THE SOCIOLOGY OF JUSTIFICATION __________ 263

1.

CALVIN IN GENEVA _______________________2632.

THE PRIESTLY STATE ______________________2913.

THE ROYAL STATE ________________________3004.

DEMOCRACY AND DIVINITY _______________ 3125.

EMINENT DOMAIN ________________________ 3256.

BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF GOVERNMENT ____3317.

THE STATE AS PROPHET AND LOGOS

_____3448.

THE POLITICS OF SLAVERY ________________ 357

I. THE POLITICS OF GUILT

1MASOCHISM AND ATONEMENT

The fact of
guilt
is one of the major realities of man’s existence.Both personally and socially, it
is a vast drain on human energies anda mainspring of human action. Any attempt at
assessing either political action or religious faith apart from the fact of guilt
is thus anexercise in futility.

The roots of guilt are personal and racial; the consequences aresocial as well. The
human race, in apostasy from God, is deeplyinvolved in a rebellious claim to
autonomy and in the guilt whichfollows that claim. As a result of this omnipresent
sense of guilt,there is an omnipresent demand for
justification.
The expression,“He’s trying to justify himself,” points to this demand by man for
justification, an insistence on psychic or spiritual wholeness ofhealth. A sense of
guilt leaves a man feeling like a leaky, sinking ship:the energies must all be
resolved to the repair of that breach. The psychology of the guilty man is thus
geared to self-defense, tospiritual survival, by means of an overcoming of the
breach ofguilt. This concern is a demand for salvation: the sinking ego wantsto
save itself, to find justification by making atonement for its guilt.Atonement thus
is a repair of the breach caused by guilt, and theconsequence of atonement is
justification. Because the need for thisrepair is so urgent, the whole personal,
social, religious, and political

2 POLITICS OF GUILT AND PITY

life of guilty man is colored by this demand for atonement and isin fact dominated
by it.

A common recourse is to self-atonement and self-justification. Amodern term for

such behavior is
masochism,
in the broader senseof that term. The narrower sense refers to a sexual offense, in
whichthe masochist seeks to buy atonement by demanding punishment before the sin
and as a license to the sin. In the broader sense,masochism is self-punishment as
atonement for sin in order to cleansethe conscience of guilt. Theodor Reik, writing
from ananti-Christian and Freudian perspective, has observed:

The unconscious force which drives people to deny themselvesenjoyment and success,
to spoil their chances in lire or not tomake use of them, may be more accurately
defined as the needfor punishment. In childhood punishment is expected from
parents. In adulthood God or dark forces of destiny take their place. Unconsciously
these people inflict punishments onthemselves to which an inner court has sentenced
them. Ahidden authority within the ego takes over the judgmentoriginally expected
from the parents. Analysis can show thatnot only are these punishments expected,
but that they are

even unconsciously desired, that suffering is aimed at

unconsciously even if they do not know or do not want to

know it. These individuals act as if they were controlled bystringent moral laws
and prohibitions, and as if they were forcedto punish themselves for disobeying
them.
1

A variety of human actions are deeply masochistic, and all theactions of guilty man
are colored by masochism. “Neurosis isundoubtedly a masochistic formation.”
2
Psychic masochism is the basic neurosis, according to Bergler.
3

Masochistic self-punishment in atonement for sin appears in avariety of ways, a few

of which can be cited, by way of illustration.
First,
psychosomatic ailments are a common masochistic recourse.The belief is simply, “If
I suffer enough, I will pay for my sins.”

1
Theodor Reik:
Masochism in Modern Man, p.
10. Translated by MargaretH. Beigel and Gertrud M. Kurth. New York: Farrar, Straus,
1941, 1949.

Ibid
., p
.
372.

3
Edmund Bergler, M.D.:
Principles of Self-Damage.
New York:Philosophical Library, 1959.
MASOCHISM AND ATONEMENT 3
Thus sickness is an offering of atonement for sin. Ancient medical practice,
whatever its faults, often recognized this aspect ofatonement. The sickness is none
the less physical for having had aspiritual origin. Psychomatic medicine is now an
established branchof medical knowledge.
4

Second,
gambling is a common and popular exercise inmasochism. The gambler knows that the
odds are against him: hegambles to lose, with an unconscious will to lose, to
punish himselffor his guilt and cleanse, although vainly, his conscience. The
real“winnings” of the gambler, according to Bergler, “are paid in theintra-psychic
coin of psychic masochism—which is, after all, what hehas bargained for.”
5
According to a report made to this writer by adealer in a major Nevada gambling
house, losing is the rule, and“winners” are liars. This dealer claimed that $20
could be handedto each person entering the premises without loss, that people
whowin insistently gamble until they lose. He stated further that he hadseen only
one gambler leave the premises a winner, a man who wasso drunk that he passed out
while still ahead. His conclusion was,“They play to lose.” While this may be in
part an overstatement,it is essentially true.

Third,
alcoholism is another form of self-punishment, andmarriage to a known alcoholic is
similarly masochistic activity.When an alcoholic quits drinking, his major problem
is often hiswife, who is outraged at being robbed of her “cross.” The result
iserratic behavior on her part, and irresponsible conduct, as she seeksa new form
of self-punishment and another cross to bear. Some willdeliberately try to drive
the man back to drink in order to regaintheir precarious and fallacious peace of
mind.

Fourth,
still another form of masochism is “burden-bearing.” The burden-bearer will play
the role of public saint in order to atone for private guilt. The more unpleasant
the public role, the more desir-

4
See Frank G. Slaughter, M.D.:
Your Body and Your Mind.
New York:Signet Books (1947), 1953; Therese Benedek, M.D.:
Psychosexual Functionsin Women,
New York: The Ronald Press, 1952; Flanders Dunbar, M.D.:
Mindand Body: Psychosomatic Medicine,
New York: Random House, 1947; etc.

5
Edmund Bergler, M.D.:
The Psychology of Gambling,
p. 244. New York:Hill and Wang, 1957.

4 POLITICS OF GUILT AND PITY

able its function for purposes of atonement. As a result, the guiltyrich will
indulge in philanthropy, and the guilty white men willshow “love” and “concern” for
Negroes and other such persons whoare in actuality repulsive and intolerable to
them. In one academiccommunity, the prominent public saint was a faculty wife
whomoved about ironing and cooking for sick or newly delivered wivesof graduate
students, although she had never cooked a meal for herfamily or done their laundry
because such services were beneathher social status. Self-conscious burden-bearing,
public works ofvirtue, worry and fretting, worship or penance, all serve as
devicesfor self-atonement, as forms of do-it-yourself salvation.

Fifth,
“injustice-collecting” has been rightly described by Reikand Bergler as an
important aspect of masochism. The injusticecollector systematically finds
“pleasure in displeasure,” placeshimself in positions where he will be sure to feel
offended, and thenself-righteously sees himself as one sinned against and hence
innocent.Bergler, in the context of his Freudian faith, which we cannot accept,has
described the “schedule” of the “injustice collector”:

(a)

Through their behavior or the misuse of an external sit-uation, neurotics

unconsciously provoke disappointment and re-fusal, identifying the outer world with
the “refusing” pre-Oedipal mother.(b)

Not realizing that they themselves have brought aboutthis disappointment, they
become aggressive, seemingly in self-defense (“pseudo-aggression”).(c)

They then induldge in self-pity, unconsciously enjoying psychic masochism: “This

can happen only to me.”Consciously, these neurotics realize only their
righteousindignation and self-pity. They repress the fact of initial provocation,
as well as that of masochistic enjoyment ofself-pity.
6

Sixth,
the will to failure is a common factor in masochism. Failureis a penalty paid, an
atonement made, for sins committed.

Numerous other forms of masochistic activity can be cited.Suffice it to cite but

one more:
suicidal activity.
Many persons donot reveal their personal masochism, but they do participate inmass

Edmund Bergler, M.D.:

Counterfeit-Sex. Homosexuality, Impotence, Frigity,
p. 65.Second, enlarged edition. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1958.

MASOCHISM AND ATONEMENT 5

masochism through political and economic views and activitiescalculated to fulfill
the urge to mass destruction.
According toWarner, the “two major dynamic factors which enter into thecausation of
self-and-other defeat” are “
the craving for individual power,
and
the motive of revenge.
”
7
Behind this suicidal drive is ahatred of all life and a desire to destroy all
life, “
to lead the living to suicide.
”
8
 “
Victory through defeat
”

becomes the goal,

9
and the morewidespread the defeat, the greater the victory. The goalunconsciously
becomes mass destruction, “a mass grave for all.”
10
The politics and the economics of the modern era are increasinglydominated by this
unrelenting, unconscious urge to massdestruction. Masochism is thus closely related
to suicide.

Masochistic activities are not only forms of self-atonement butalso forms of self-
deception. Thus Bergler sees homosexuality as“inner admission of the ‘Lesser
Crime.’ ”
11
The guilty personconceals a greater crime by open profession of a lesser one. For
theChristian, the truest definition of sin is that it is “any want ofconformity
unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as arule to the reasonable
creature.”
12
Masochism is guilt atonement, but it is an atonement that both pleads guilty to
the lesser crime andseeks refuge at the same time in self-justification.

A form of activity closely related to masochism and havingidentical roots, and some
would call it a form of masochism, issadism. In sadism, self-punishment involves
also a transfer of guiltto an innocent party. It is a form of revenge against the
innocent fortheir innocence and an attempt to reduce them to the same level
ofimpotence and guilt. David prayed, “Keep me, O LORD, from thehands of the wicked;
preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings” (Psalm
140:4). Some men go togreat expense and pains to seduce a virgin, or a faithful
wife, whomthey actually dislike, for only one reason, to “humble” them, to

7
Samuel J. Warner:
The Urge to Mass Destruction,
p. 19. New York:Grune & Stratton, 1957.
8
Ibid.,
pp. 26, 34.
9
Ibid.,
p. 99.
10

Ibid.,
p. 152.
11
Bergler:
Counterfeit-Sex,
p. 198f.
12
Westminster Larger Catechism,
A24;
Westminster Shorter Catechism,
A14.

16