Blame Is A Strategy: Why Blame Isn't Logical, It's Liturgical
September 16, 2025·0 comments·zg
You read the headlines. Or maybe you ignore all of them. I’m not here to tell you what they are. I wanted to make this note for myself, and then I realized I should share it too, because I can’t be the only one thinking about this right now.
“Blame” is fascinating word. It’s always involved in political strategies in one way or another. We all know what it feels like it means, but do you know what it actually means or where it comes from?
(I didn’t know, hence, this post)
Blame comes from the old French “blasmer” - which comes from the even-older Latin, “blasphemare,” meaning to blaspheme, or speak ill of the sacred.
Blame is a boundary word. It’s a word for calling something as out of bounds with a causal reason attached to it. If you are, in the Latin sense, speaking against the divine order and calling something unholy, you have crossed the line and gone from the sacred to the profane.
It’s a religious word. You can use it outside of religion, but - that context. I think it’s important to remember the religious context of blame right now.
When blame evolved from meaning just the violation of divine boundaries, and into a social technology for manufacturing consent and action, it didn’t lose the boundaries of belief vibes.
We’re seeing a lot of those belief boundaries in the strategic use of blame right now.
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