(Illustration by Bianca Van Dijk)
Having positive role models is a wise practice but deifying any fellow human being crosses a line because none of us are perfectly good in attitudes and behaviors. Deification is a path to cynicism (or a cultish perspective). Cynicism is a destructive worldview, since when an idolized individuals' flaws become known, we can feel betrayed if we don't fall into denial, while it effectively normalizes the leadership that is actually inhumane. The sense of betrayal that stems from cynicism, that which is rooted in deification, is a temptation to generalize leaders as deceivers who want to take advantage of us, while their good deeds essentially become invisible. This worldview is a path to trust in conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, propaganda, or (and) the fear-mongering about minorities since those answers are easily digestible; those explanations are comforting due to their lack of nuance and complexity (while that viewpoint can even inspire a belief about a few people pulling world leaders' strings, as if we're living in a James Bond, Mission Impossible, or Austin Powers film). It's a belief system that produces an assurance that minorities and (or) leaders have and will take advantage of us (except the leaders who knowingly or unknowingly produce misinformation to produce a sense of community and a feeling of refuge). This worldview ironically amplifies anxiety. Furthermore, our vision to our own flaws, and the true source of our problems, become flawed if we fall for that type of perspective. Defeatism ironically nourishes defeat. Therefore, if we give in to deification, then others ultimately aren't the only ones harmed, while we walk upon the intertwining path of self-destruction.
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