The Crazy World We Live In! Blog

Ah yes...in the grand tradition of radical fundamentalists, yet another spouts hatred of gays while actually BEING and HAVING GAY relationships....a scandal to look at...

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Karl Rove has always been tight with TED HAGGARD and used the opposition to GAY MARRIAGE to drum up support among the conservative base. Only ONE PROBLEM -- like Congressman Foley, HAGGARD ardently and righteously opposed behavior that he FREQUENTLY INDULGED IN. Can anyone say hypocrisy?

As with Foley -- here's the explanation of REACTION FORMATION, a psychodynamic concept. Susan Day in her textbook called THEORY AND DESIGN IN COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY describes "reaction formation" in this way: "You act and speak in opposition to impulses you wish you didn't have" [p. 81]. WOW...does that sound like Foley or what!!?!!

The idea of reaction formation is a Freudian concept. The idea here is that you have certain impulses/desires and these impulses/desires are "ego dystonic", meaning, you don't like/approve of these feelings. So you try to suppress them. And in doing so -- and to fight these "demons", you might even campaign against them and the people that feel them.

Now you may quibble about other Freudian concepts, but I've got to tell you that time and again we see folks fully employing the REACTION FORMATION defense. Sometimes in fact, it might be a conscious choice, i.e., if I appear as a defender of children, more teenage boys will trust me and I'll have more access.

However, more often than not, the person is actually trying to overcome their dysfunctional proclivities. Remember JIMMY SWAGGART, the Christian hell and fire preacher who consistently railed against those "fornicating" -- at least until he was discovered to be a regular customers of the local prostitutes!

Another famous example is the sexual abuse by Catholic priests. Here they were -- "men of god" abusing young children....talk about sinning! For many of these priests, they had hoped that by dedicating themselves to the church, they would be able to overcome their dysfunctional desires. However, often that simply didn't happen and then the slippery slope -- pedophilia and what many believe, a culture of acceptance of pedophilia.

Again and again you will see examples of reaction formation in daily life. Perhaps it's the guy who constantly denigrates gay people even though you're sure he's gay. Or the young woman who is very solicitous of her mother that she hates.