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A recent letter in The Australian (T. R. Curtis, September 5/6 1998) posed an interesting question:
When I read the Prophets I find much against injustice, a fair bit against irreligion, a little against sexual immorality, and nothing at all against abortion. When I read God's (self-appointed) modern spokespersons I find much against abortion, a fair bit against sexual immorality, a little against irreligion, and nothing against injustice. Has God changed his mind, or are they speaking for someone else?
The recent drama involving Clinton, Starr, and the US Congress has also raised similar questions in my mind. Here are some of my speculations on the subject.
From the perspective of a simplified psychoanalytic metaphor, a person's value system reflects his or her progress through stages of psychosexual development. The first three stages of life are the Oral Stage, the Anal Stage, and the Genital Stage.
The values of the Oral Stage are learned in the first year of life, when the most common source of distress is hunger and the desire for the mother's breast. The lesson learned is that happiness comes from putting something in your mouth, and being looked after.
The values of the Anal Stage are learned during toilet training. The lessons learned are to obey authority, to value cleanliness and whiteness, and to hold on to things until later, or save.
The values of the Genital Stage concern exploration, creativity, and sexuality, the possibility of mixing with strangers, and the value of tolerance.
A child moving through these stages of development may encounter adversity. He or she may respond by using one of a number of different defense mechanisms. Two of these are the Schizoid Reaction and Regression. The Schizoid Reaction involves splitting the perceived object into two polarized aspects and projecting all good things onto one part and all bad things onto the other. Regression involves reverting to an earlier successful stage and developing negative attitudes toward the s