Ritual defamation: what is it and how is it used to punish dissenting opinions?

Ritual defamation is a social phenomenon that has gained strength with the popularization of the Internet.

People are very diverse, and this is evident in our opinions. Everyone sees the world differently and, as a consequence, thinks in a particular way, making absolutely no one totally agree on all the issues that can be discussed.

However, there are certain opinions and ideas that are conceived as unquestionable within a society. These ideas, if contradicted, can generate a lot of controversy, so much so that even the person who has been critical is attacked.

Ritual defamation is the attack on someone who has expressed a socially questionable opinion.. This phenomenon has been gaining special importance, especially in the face of politically correct criticism. Let's go deeper into this idea.

• Related article, "What is Social Psychology?"

What is ritual defamation?

In July 2017, an engineer named James Damore, a worker at Google, disclosed within the company a particular memo that would, perhaps unknowingly, generate a rough controversy. The document, called "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber," was a critique of the company's pro-diversity measures which, according to Damore, represented an ideological bias to the left of the company, which he believed had a negative impact on the company's performance.

James Damore indicated in this text, originally shared on Google+'s internal platform, that gender differences in the technology sector were not so much due to discrimination against women (which he did not deny existed) but rather to the Biological characteristics of each sex, influencing psychological traits. Damore said that women, being more empathetic and sensitive to stress and anxiety, do not tend to choose jobs that require a lot of responsibility, unlike men who are more systematic and resistant to stress.

As might be expected, these views caused a lot of controversy and led to Damore's dismissal, being accused of violating Google's code of conduct. The manifesto eventually made its way into the media, generating widespread public backlash and harassment of Damore.. He also got some support and even enlisted the services of the renowned lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, going to court accusing Google that, through its pro-diversity policies, it was actually discriminating against certain groups, especially whites, Asians, men and conservatives.

Regardless of how controversial and criticizable James Damore's opinions may be, this case serves to exemplify a very curious and, at the same time, unfair social phenomenon: ritual defamation. His case is a clear example of this phenomenon, of how values, opinions and beliefs are controlled in societies. If someone does not agree with what is socially accepted, with what is established as "politically correct" in a given place and time, he or she runs the risk of being socially rejected, without having committed any crime or serious moral fault.

Laird Maurice Wilcox, an American social researcher, describes ritual defamation as the destruction or attempted destruction of an individual's or group's reputation, status, character, or standing in the community through improper, malicious, or unfair speech or publication. destruction of the reputation, status, character, or standing in the community of an individual or group by improper, malicious or unfair speech or publication.. Defamation may be used in retaliation for the victim's attitudes, opinions or beliefs (real or unfounded), with the intent to silence or end their influence and discourage supporters of that fringe idea.

Ritual defamation differs from simple criticism or contrary opinion towards something in nature and degree, because this phenomenon is much more aggressive, organized and skillfully applied by an organization or representative of a special interest group. The idea is to stamp out dissenting opinion, an idea that has challenged a taboo subject within society, a position that, regardless of whether it is intrinsically good or bad, is perceived as socially unacceptable and the person who has expressed it must be attacked.

Characteristics of ritual defamation

In spite of its name, ritual defamation is not so called because it follows a religious or mystical doctrine, nor because it is perpetrated solely by religious groups or against other faiths..... It is considered to be a ritualistic phenomenon in that it follows a predictable and stereotyped pattern that encompasses a number of elements, just as would happen in a ritual. These elements are as follows.

Violation of a taboo

For ritual defamation to occur, the victim must have transgressed a taboo by expressing or identifying with an attitude, opinion or belief that is socially perceived as forbidden or politically incorrect. It is not necessary for the individual to carry out a specific action, it is simply enough for him or her to It is sufficient that he or she participates in some way in the communication or expression of the socially rejected idea..

2. Attack of the victim's character

In a case of ritual defamation the method resorted to is the attack on the character of the victim, offering no more than a superficial challenge to the particular attitudes, opinions or beliefs expressed.

3. Denial of any debate

A fundamental aspect of ritual defamation is to to avoid engaging in any kind of debate about the veracity of what the victim has expressed.. The main objective of defamation is censorship and repression, directly condemning the individual for his opinions and not giving him the opportunity to debate the issue.

4. Public person

The victim is usually a person visible to the public and, consequently, vulnerable to public opinion. This category can include any profession that has a minimum of public-facing work, such as writers, schoolteachers, civil servants, civil servants, government employees, etc. writers, schoolteachers, civil servants, businessmen... although it can also be the case that the person attacked is a sincere citizen who has given his opinion by showing his face.

5. Involving others

Often an attempt is made to involve others in the defamation in order to turn them against him/her, usually from his/her closest environment. For example, employees of a public company in which one of their colleagues has said something critical may be invited to denounce their colleague or to make him or her a target.

6. Dehumanization of the victim

For the ritual defamation to be fulfilled, the victim must be dehumanized to the extent that there comes a moment in which is no longer conceived as a person but as an attitude, an opinion or an offensive beliefthat which he has said.

7. Pressure from the victim's environment

It is very common to put pressure on people close to the victim, harassing and humiliating them. If the victim has children, they may be teased and ridiculed because of their parent's opinions. If it is a co-worker, the organization may be forced to fire him or her because of pressure on the entire company (similar to Damore's case). If the victim is a member of a club, the club will be harassed by saying that they share the same controversial opinion for not kicking him or her out.

8. Rejection of any explanation by the victim

In a context of ritual defamation, any explanation the victim may give for what he or she has said or done is considered irrelevant. The fact that he tries to claim the defense of the truth for a value, an opinion or belief that is not socially accepted is interpreted as defiance and will only aggravate the situation further.

Final thoughts

Often, ritual defamation is not a matter of being wrong or right, but of being seen as a person who has proffered an opinion interpreted as "insensitive" or not adhering to social taboos. This practice is universal, as it is not specific to any particular value, opinion or belief, nor is it specific to any particular socio-cultural group. This means that any person and any idea can be subject to a situation of ritual defamation, the only thing that makes a difference is whether or not the society in which such an opinion has been held considers it to be incorrect..

The power of ritual defamation lies entirely in its ability to intimidate and terrorize others, with elements of superstitious beliefs such as curses and spells being found within it. It plays on the unconscious fear that most people feel, the fear of being rejected by our community, being socially abandoned and isolated from support systems. The fear of saying something that others don't like can shut us up.

But this phenomenon has some weaknesses. Being motivated primarily by emotional impulses, slanderers can end up showing great exaggeration. and obvious malice towards the victim, which causes them to fail in their strategy to bring someone down for having expressed an opinion they do not share. This may also be the case if they have not adequately planned the attack against their victim, or have underestimated the victim's influence and support.

As in all propaganda and disinformation campaigns, ritual defamation is carried out by manipulating words and symbols. It is not used to persuade or convince of a noble idea, but to punish the person who does not share it. and, therefore, is not a legitimate strategy. This strategy is used to harm, intimidate and destroy an individual for having transgressed a taboo, to avoid discussing his point of view and to ostracize him, a strategy that is not acceptable in a fully democratic and free society, not even when the opinion attacked is socially questionable.