Nehemiah 6:6
It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.
Who is Gashmu? It doesn't matter. That's the point. He is a hypothetical offended person and who he is matters less than how he might feel. Gashmu is the hypothetical alcoholic who might be made to stumble by the presence of real wine at the Lord's Table. Gashmu is the hypothetical survivor of child abuse who might be made uncomfortable if you teach a class on Biblical discipline for instruction that includes spanking. Gashmu is the hypothetical placeholder for any offended party who might object to what you are currently proposing.
Gashmu's subjective, invented feelings are invoked to trump your Biblically sourced facts. Your specific behavior is supposed to be modified at this very moment because his potential reaction to it at any given moment might be negative. Invoking Gashmu is meant to revoke the available options of the actor. Gashmu haunts all the hypotheticals and elbows out certain possibilities. It is untenable to imagine him having to endure certain things and so those things are presupposed to be off the table so that they never end up at his. Appealing to Gashmu is a way of getting handles on those with whom you differ. His name can help steer conversations. He keeps the gates better than most men by haunting them without respite.
Appealing to "Gashmu" is akin to what Dr. Ransom calls Sensitivity Shamming, "a millennial fallacy that uses a hypothetical hostile audience's sensitivities to curtail further discussion of a position or argument." -— Douglas and N.D. Wilson, The Amazing Dr. Ransom's Bestiary of Adorable Fallacies
No comments:
Post a Comment