2 Samuel 13:28 · World English Bible
Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Mark now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I commanded you? Be courageous, and be valiant!”
Absalom has nursed his grievance into a plan, and he serves the murder to his men dressed as bravery. Watch how carefully evil borrows the language of virtue.
From the Clinical Psychology reading below.
The same verse, read by one tradition.
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Absalom has nursed his grievance into a plan, and he serves the murder to his men dressed as bravery. Watch how carefully evil borrows the language of virtue. He tells them to be valiant, to fear nothing, as though butchering a defenseless drunk were courage rather than its exact inversion. Resentment arrives wearing the mask of justice.
The most dangerous cruelty is the kind convinced of its own righteousness. A man who admitted he was taking revenge might still hesitate, but one who believes he is being brave will not stop. Atrocities get committed by people persuaded they are the heroes of the story. The mask does not only fool the servants. It fools the one who put it on.
Clinical Psychology lens
What is the kindest name you have given to something you did out of spite?
When the real thing is lost, its imitation takes the stage and performs the part loudly. The showiest virtue is usually the thinnest.
Ill will dressed as justice is still ill will, and it burns the one who carries it first. Hatred has never once been ended by hatred.
Ask what the act really is, stripped of the name you have given it. Most of our worst moves survive only because we refuse to call them what they are.
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Clinical Psychology