Because thoughtcrime is not a real word, and therefore not in a real dictionary, I went to Urbandictionary.com to see what today's popular definitions for the term are. Two of the top three definitions stated that thoughtcrime had to do with thinking about doing something criminal, rather than holding unpopular beliefs. I believe this horribly conducted statistical analysis is indicative of the popularly understood meaning of this word. The thing we decry has switched from noble non-conformity to a perverted sense of entitlement to unsavory thoughts.
And there's something wrong with that.
We know that thoughtcrime is something that should not count as real crime, we know that we're supposed to scream that we are free to think what we want when we hear the term, but we do not actually understand what the term means . The definition of the word has morphed to make us believe that it's OK to think something wrong as long as we do not act on it. It suggests that it does not matter what we have in our hearts, does not matter what thoughts we choose to harbor and dwell on. As long as we don't do anything, we are not guilty and we do not have to worry. It's OK to think bad things, it's OK to meditate on criminal things, as long as we do not actually do them.
I'd like to challenge this notion on two premises. 1) Thoughtcrime in Orwell's novel was not in reference to anything but holding negative or non-compliant thoughts in regards to the ruling party, AND 2) The line between thought and action is too thin, and not one worth straddling.
The border between thought and action is only separated by a few strings of neurons;. A handful of electrical signals calling the muscles into service The difference between entertaining thoughts of murder and pulling the trigger is less than one second and requires the compliance of only a few muscles. The more conditioned the brain becomes to fantasize about doing the wrong thing, the harder it becomes for the body to do the right thing.
We've drifted from protecting the beliefs of minorities, to justifying the thoughts that produce the crimes we abhor. Orwell never intended to write a book in defense of thinking about murder, or fantasizing about rape, or contemplating larceny, yet we've come to use his term to decry criminalizing the thoughts that build up to unspeakable actions.
We're pushing the line more and more every day. Sure, we may have the right to think whatever we want, but should we carry that on to mean that thinking these things is a good thing?
If there's anything I've come to understand about my thoughts, it's that they almost always work their way out. The occasional swear-word that used to drift across the front of my mind slowly became more frequent and then worked it's way out, much to my surprise, during an exceptionally frustrating dry stretch in my career on MLB The Show '14 for PS4. And that's just the least of the thoughts I've seen grow into action in my life.
The more we allow negative, sinful, and criminal thoughts to invade our brains, the closer we drift to actually committing those thoughts. Thoughtcrime as defined by modern culture IS a bad thing and is something we should be concerned about. Just as Rome wasn't built in a day, so no crime is committed without a cultivation of thought.
Thoughts are the seeds of actions. What are you allowing to grow?
Matthew 5, 6, and 7
