Vicissitudes and Victories

No Fault

Some states now require that all drivers have no-fault car insurance. The idea behind this form of insurance is that both parties always share some blame in any accident that occurs. Because both parties usually share some blame for traffic accidents, each party's insurance agree to pay for the damage wrought to the policy holder's vehicle. Thus, neither party is held accountable for the other parties mistakes--they both share some of the blame and some of the burden.

This insurance model differs substantially from the model of malpractice insurance. Doctors today must carry massive amounts of insurance coverage just in case they make a stupid mistake or even if someone perceives they made a stupid mistake. The malpractice model assumes that all pain has its source, and that that source deserves to pay for the pain caused.

Sometimes I wish that relationships followed the no-fault model more than the malpractice model of culpability. Truth be told, both parties in a relationship generally share some blame for what ever happens to that relationship. This is definitely not true when abuse occurs within a relationship or when one party cheats on another, but in general blame resides with both parties. Yet it seems like both parties constantly try to point fingers at one another trying to blame one another for the pain each one feels. Pain is the natural consequence of breaking up. There will always be plenty of pain to go around when people cut the ties that bind them together. The term no-fault is deceptive, it really means that both are at fault. Asi es la vida (so is life)!

What really is important is to learn from the pain. To reach out and be kinder and gentler to those around us. C.S. Lewis once said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." (The Problem with Pain) Christ is the only one who can take away our pain because he understands and has experienced all pain. So as people in our litigious society strive to take each other for all they are worth, and hurt and battered souls strive to hurt the ones they loved, maybe it's time to remember that there is a "Balm in Gilead" and that healing occurs only when we give our pain to Him that paid the price for all.

posted by Joel @ 3:19 PM