A Pinch of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure: Rejecting Victim-Blaming in Spirituality
- Alicia Anspaugh
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
A Pinch of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure: Rejecting Victim-Blaming in Spirituality
By Alicia Anspaugh
So let's talk about toxic positivity in the spiritual movement.
For so long it's been, "Well, if something bad is happening to you, then you must be a bad person. Or you were one in a past life. Or it's your karma. Or it's your fate." Blah, blah, blah.
This is absolute lies!
It is also deeply connected to the culture of victim-blaming and victim-shaming—something I have absolutely zero tolerance for.
Too often, these kinds of statements become a way for people who don't know what to do, or who are uncomfortable with another person's suffering, to avoid accountability. Instead of helping, they attempt to silence the person who is hurting because it makes them feel more comfortable. Sometimes it even gives them a false sense of superiority, as though they must somehow be a "better person" because hardship hasn't found them.
That is all this is.
It is toxic, and it is simply another version of the victim-blaming mindset that has existed throughout history.
Read this next sentence, and then read it again:
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A BAD PERSON FOR BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN TO YOU! BAD THINGS HAPPEN ALL OF THE TIME!
If you or someone you know is promoting the idea that "bad things only happen to bad people," then you are helping keep that harmful mindset alive ..in short your the problem at that point.
This is one of the biggest reasons I do what I do.
It is why I write.
It is why I teach.
It is why I vodcast.
Because nobody deserves to suffer simply because they didn't know how to protect themselves when no one around them knew either—and because there were so many lies floating around about what people should or shouldn't do.
Even amazing people, the holiest and most righteous among us, have rough days and difficult seasons.
It's called being human.
Sometimes those rough moments leave us more vulnerable.
Sometimes someone else's jealousy, anger, selfishness, or irresponsibility creates problems we never asked for.
Some people misuse power simply because they believe they are above consequences. They're not—but believing they are causes them to make reckless decisions, and unfortunately those decisions can affect innocent people.
Power without maturity, without ethics, has always been dangerous.
That reality also helps me understand why so many elders within various spiritual traditions guarded certain knowledge for generations.
It wasn't because knowledge itself is dangerous—it isn't.
Knowledge without ethics is.
Sadly, so much information has already been shared that we can't simply put the genie back into the bottle.
What we can do is teach responsibility alongside knowledge.
That is why I am so passionate about sharing practical information that helps people protect themselves and the people they love.
Day-to-day maintenance.
Basic spiritual hygiene.
Stronger protection when it's needed.
And, when all else fails, practical ways to begin fixing whatever has happened.
I'd love to tell you that if you simply do X, Y, and Z, nothing spiritually difficult will ever happen to you.
But that would be a lie.
Anything can happen to anyone at any time.
Preparation is not fear.
Prevention is not paranoia.
We lock our front doors.
We wear seatbelts.
We install smoke detectors.
We learn first aid.
None of those things mean we expect disaster every day.
They mean we understand that a pinch of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Spiritual preparation is no different.
It isn't about fear or panic.
It's about awareness.
It's about preparation.
It's about trusting yourself.
It's about trusting the people you love.
It's about believing your children when they come to you and tell you something doesn't feel right.
It's about being willing to admit that there really is a problem instead of sticking your head in the sand and hoping it goes away.
Because problems rarely disappear simply because we ignore them.
Like a cut left untreated, they often become worse.
A small wound can become infected.
An ignored problem can become a crisis.
It's almost always easier to deal with something early than to wait until it has grown into something much larger.
Now, I am not saying that difficult experiences can't teach us valuable lessons.
Many of them do.
Nor am I saying that people never make poor choices that have consequences.
Of course they do.
What I am saying is this:
Stop blaming people simply because something bad happened to them.
Teach preparation instead of shame.
Teach awareness instead of denial.
Teach responsibility instead of fear.
And don't buy into the metaphysical white light victim blame game.
"Every answer begins with a question.
Every solution begins with a problem."
Alicia Anspaugh
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