betrayal

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Is there anything more infuriating than the betrayal by a trusted institution or individual?

-- The sexually abused woman who is encouraged to bring her complaints to the religious institution that suborned the abuser in the first place?

-- The black man encouraged to bring his complaints to the police department in whose ranks the perpetrator of police brutality found a home?

-- The patient encouraged to see a doctor in the wake of a misapplied regimen of drugs whose industry so many doctors are beholden to?

Institutions and individuals that encourage and in some cases warrant individual trust grow slack and self-congratulatory and forget the individuals whose collective trust maintains the institution or individual. Instead of honoring the trust of each individual -- honoring and protecting that trust -- the institution or individual turns to upholding and protecting the institution or individual at the expense of the individuals who may trust it.

A raging cynicism in the face of such betrayal scenarios is really not quite enough. Yes, it's enough to piss off the pope. Yes, it's self-serving and vile. But eventually, the personal longing for and delight in trust has to be addressed.

Somehow, without rancor or surprise, there has to be some peace in the fact that whatever else we trust is likely to come around and bite us on the ass...and we are willing to take that risk and suffer its consequences. Cynicism is too easy ... and besides, it doesn't taste good ... and on top of that it is just something else to trust. Unbridled cynicism like unbridled trust in something else has its potentials for good and evil.

Sometimes the sky is blue. Sometimes the sky is grey.

But whose betrayal is this?
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