Hello, All.
It's been a long time since I've posted. There might have even been another to-do at Dr. Irene's Catbox in the ensuing years. Hopefully, those who are in abusive relationships and go to Dr. Irene's Verbal Abuse Site or her Catbox forum in the hopes of seeking help, are able to see through the manipulations and control that site and forum have attempted repeatedly over the years, and are able to find other, safer arenas for assistance.
That being said, for cost considerations, it's become time to retire the parable website: The Fall of the Kingdom.
So, I am posting the parable here, for posterity. Here you go. Thank you, friends and readers. And for those of you finding yourselves in verbally or otherwise abusive relationships, check out the resource to the right for a safer forum. Wishing you well.
The Fall of the Kingdom
(or Why the Kingdom Fell)
Once upon a time, a man founded a village to keep people safe from ogres.
And he was King of the village, because he founded it.
The King was busy with other things. He had only founded the village as a side-fancy. He appointed Guardians to maintain peace within the village and oversee it, and for many years he barely ventured into the village.
And people flocked to the village, and loved being there, for it was safe from ogres.
And, aside from normal ups and downs, there was peace. And more and more people flocked to the village, and more and more people were saved from ogres, and more and more people were grateful and helpful to other, newer villagers.
Now, one thing that caused angst within the village was cheesecake. Because many of the villagers were watching their weight, so if anyone mentioned cheesecake, there ensued many arguments. So the Guardians made a rule: no cheesecake, and no mention of cheesecake.
And the village community thrived and prospered and flowed beautifully and grew.
Then one day, the King got a craving for cheesecake. He found one that claimed it was low-fat, and put up posters on the village walls advertising it.
The villagers grew angry. Why can we not mention cheesecake, and he can? Well, he IS the king, but it really isn’t fair!
The King said he didn’t know the Guardians had made a rule about cheesecake. But he left the posters up anyway, and said something rude to one of the villagers.
Other villagers pointed this rudeness out to the King. “How can we be safe from ogres, if you are acting like one?” the villagers asked.
The King explained that he didn’t know the rule, and that he put up the posters without the knowledge of the Guardians. One villager said that the explanation was nice to hear, and thanked the Guardians, for it was made clear the Guardians had nothing to do with the double-standard that had been created.
The King roared. “How DARE you thank the Guardians, and not me? That is rude and insulting, and I will not tolerate it!” And the King, flippantly shooting a fake gun at the villager, banished the villager from the village.
Other people in the village had now seen two ogre-like behaviors from the King… but many more such deeds were to follow.
When villagers spoke up against the ogre-like behavior, the King banished them. More and more were banished.
The King was offensive and disrespectful to the villagers. The villagers said, “Hey, we don’t deserve that!” The King answered, “If you don’t like it, you may leave!” At that, the villagers became angry, and the King called them ogres for their anger.
The Kingdom became divided.
Some villagers were afraid that their safe village would be destroyed, and did not see – or did not want to see – the King behaving like the very ogres they were seeking safety from.
The King apologized for putting up the cheesecake posters, but did not apologize for behaving like an ogre to the villagers. On the contrary, the King insisted THEY were rabble-rousers! THEY were the problem! If he got rid of ALL of them, the village could go back to being peaceful and safe, the King claimed. It was THEIR fault. THEY were the ogres now, the King proclaimed.
The King twisted the circumstances, as ogres do, and made it appear the clear-eyed villagers were causing all the discontent in the village.
The King, trying to salvage his public image, un-banished the banished. (For they would not apologize for having clearly seen Him.) But they did not choose to return, for great wrongs had been done, and more were being done daily.
As more and more villagers came to realize that the King was behaving like an ogre, more and more villagers stood up – and were also banished.
The Guardians saw with clear sight what was going on, and could no longer, with good conscience, support the King’s ogre-like behavior. The King was acting on his own, anyway. So after many years of shaping the village into the beautiful thing that it was, the Guardians left the village and abandoned their service to the King.
And the King continued to act like an ogre, but tried more carefully to hide it. If things were written, they were erased. If questions were asked, he answered them without answering them. He told the remaining villagers to get over it. He had apologized, what more did they want? He attacked and retreated, attacked and retreated.
And he tried to bring His structure and order to the kingdom. He wanted to bring it under His control.
The villagers who grew clear vision continued to leave. Some stayed only to try to help new villagers who thought it was an ogre-free zone.
But some villagers – from fear of losing their village, perhaps – flew to the defense of the King. And they became his minions, and the King grew more validated in His Rightness by the few who remained supporters. And the villagers did not want to see the ogre. So they didn’t. And they shouted, “Can’t you let it go? The King apologized for the cheesecake! Stop fanning the flames!” They believed the King, that the clear-eyed villagers were the ogres. They hotly scolded the clear-eyed villagers, and grew in the King’s favor for doing so – even as they, too, behaved exactly as they were not supposed to behave.
The King scrabbled to try to cover up the ogre-like behaviors and reorganize and control and make the village into what He wanted it to be – far, far from what it had been so beautifully before. And he tried to form a new troop of Guardians taken from his supporters to enforce his vision. And the fogged villagers pleaded with the others to let it drop, it was just cheesecake, let it go.
The King and his new Guardians tried to label the outrage “Fear of Change,” to further discredit the clear-eyed villagers.
But the villagers with clear eyes knew anything they said or did could be deemed worthy of banishment, if they stood up for what was right. Their objections were shushed, and their voices attempted to be silenced, and any who spoke up were threatened with banishment. Some were careful. Some, unable to bear the wrongness, took clear actions against the King, straight out, trying to get the king or the fogged villagers to see, and got their punishment over with.
All the clear-eyed villagers hoped and wished and hoped and wished the King would finally see the error of his ways. But the King did not. The King wanted control. The King did not like some of the villagers – those who stood up, those who disagreed, those who did not believe in the King’s supremacy. The King wanted it His way. And since he had founded the village, it was true he had the right.
The King left many hurt, confused and bereaved villagers in his path, and the villagers no longer trusted him.
The village was no longer what it was supposed to be – safety from the ogres. For the ogres were within it, overseeing it, poking a nose in here and there. It felt unsafe. And it was never the same again. Oppression tried to rule, and the safe place fell apart.
And those who thought it would all be back to normal if the dissenters would only stop and go away, were misled. There was no more "normal" anymore. Everything had changed.
Because it was not about the cheesecake. It was never about the cheesecake.
It's been a long time since I've posted. There might have even been another to-do at Dr. Irene's Catbox in the ensuing years. Hopefully, those who are in abusive relationships and go to Dr. Irene's Verbal Abuse Site or her Catbox forum in the hopes of seeking help, are able to see through the manipulations and control that site and forum have attempted repeatedly over the years, and are able to find other, safer arenas for assistance.
That being said, for cost considerations, it's become time to retire the parable website: The Fall of the Kingdom.
So, I am posting the parable here, for posterity. Here you go. Thank you, friends and readers. And for those of you finding yourselves in verbally or otherwise abusive relationships, check out the resource to the right for a safer forum. Wishing you well.
The Fall of the Kingdom
(or Why the Kingdom Fell)
Once upon a time, a man founded a village to keep people safe from ogres.
And he was King of the village, because he founded it.
The King was busy with other things. He had only founded the village as a side-fancy. He appointed Guardians to maintain peace within the village and oversee it, and for many years he barely ventured into the village.
And people flocked to the village, and loved being there, for it was safe from ogres.
And, aside from normal ups and downs, there was peace. And more and more people flocked to the village, and more and more people were saved from ogres, and more and more people were grateful and helpful to other, newer villagers.
Now, one thing that caused angst within the village was cheesecake. Because many of the villagers were watching their weight, so if anyone mentioned cheesecake, there ensued many arguments. So the Guardians made a rule: no cheesecake, and no mention of cheesecake.
And the village community thrived and prospered and flowed beautifully and grew.
Then one day, the King got a craving for cheesecake. He found one that claimed it was low-fat, and put up posters on the village walls advertising it.
The villagers grew angry. Why can we not mention cheesecake, and he can? Well, he IS the king, but it really isn’t fair!
The King said he didn’t know the Guardians had made a rule about cheesecake. But he left the posters up anyway, and said something rude to one of the villagers.
Other villagers pointed this rudeness out to the King. “How can we be safe from ogres, if you are acting like one?” the villagers asked.
The King explained that he didn’t know the rule, and that he put up the posters without the knowledge of the Guardians. One villager said that the explanation was nice to hear, and thanked the Guardians, for it was made clear the Guardians had nothing to do with the double-standard that had been created.
The King roared. “How DARE you thank the Guardians, and not me? That is rude and insulting, and I will not tolerate it!” And the King, flippantly shooting a fake gun at the villager, banished the villager from the village.
Other people in the village had now seen two ogre-like behaviors from the King… but many more such deeds were to follow.
When villagers spoke up against the ogre-like behavior, the King banished them. More and more were banished.
The King was offensive and disrespectful to the villagers. The villagers said, “Hey, we don’t deserve that!” The King answered, “If you don’t like it, you may leave!” At that, the villagers became angry, and the King called them ogres for their anger.
The Kingdom became divided.
Some villagers were afraid that their safe village would be destroyed, and did not see – or did not want to see – the King behaving like the very ogres they were seeking safety from.
The King apologized for putting up the cheesecake posters, but did not apologize for behaving like an ogre to the villagers. On the contrary, the King insisted THEY were rabble-rousers! THEY were the problem! If he got rid of ALL of them, the village could go back to being peaceful and safe, the King claimed. It was THEIR fault. THEY were the ogres now, the King proclaimed.
The King twisted the circumstances, as ogres do, and made it appear the clear-eyed villagers were causing all the discontent in the village.
The King, trying to salvage his public image, un-banished the banished. (For they would not apologize for having clearly seen Him.) But they did not choose to return, for great wrongs had been done, and more were being done daily.
As more and more villagers came to realize that the King was behaving like an ogre, more and more villagers stood up – and were also banished.
The Guardians saw with clear sight what was going on, and could no longer, with good conscience, support the King’s ogre-like behavior. The King was acting on his own, anyway. So after many years of shaping the village into the beautiful thing that it was, the Guardians left the village and abandoned their service to the King.
And the King continued to act like an ogre, but tried more carefully to hide it. If things were written, they were erased. If questions were asked, he answered them without answering them. He told the remaining villagers to get over it. He had apologized, what more did they want? He attacked and retreated, attacked and retreated.
And he tried to bring His structure and order to the kingdom. He wanted to bring it under His control.
The villagers who grew clear vision continued to leave. Some stayed only to try to help new villagers who thought it was an ogre-free zone.
But some villagers – from fear of losing their village, perhaps – flew to the defense of the King. And they became his minions, and the King grew more validated in His Rightness by the few who remained supporters. And the villagers did not want to see the ogre. So they didn’t. And they shouted, “Can’t you let it go? The King apologized for the cheesecake! Stop fanning the flames!” They believed the King, that the clear-eyed villagers were the ogres. They hotly scolded the clear-eyed villagers, and grew in the King’s favor for doing so – even as they, too, behaved exactly as they were not supposed to behave.
The King scrabbled to try to cover up the ogre-like behaviors and reorganize and control and make the village into what He wanted it to be – far, far from what it had been so beautifully before. And he tried to form a new troop of Guardians taken from his supporters to enforce his vision. And the fogged villagers pleaded with the others to let it drop, it was just cheesecake, let it go.
The King and his new Guardians tried to label the outrage “Fear of Change,” to further discredit the clear-eyed villagers.
But the villagers with clear eyes knew anything they said or did could be deemed worthy of banishment, if they stood up for what was right. Their objections were shushed, and their voices attempted to be silenced, and any who spoke up were threatened with banishment. Some were careful. Some, unable to bear the wrongness, took clear actions against the King, straight out, trying to get the king or the fogged villagers to see, and got their punishment over with.
All the clear-eyed villagers hoped and wished and hoped and wished the King would finally see the error of his ways. But the King did not. The King wanted control. The King did not like some of the villagers – those who stood up, those who disagreed, those who did not believe in the King’s supremacy. The King wanted it His way. And since he had founded the village, it was true he had the right.
The King left many hurt, confused and bereaved villagers in his path, and the villagers no longer trusted him.
The village was no longer what it was supposed to be – safety from the ogres. For the ogres were within it, overseeing it, poking a nose in here and there. It felt unsafe. And it was never the same again. Oppression tried to rule, and the safe place fell apart.
And those who thought it would all be back to normal if the dissenters would only stop and go away, were misled. There was no more "normal" anymore. Everything had changed.
Because it was not about the cheesecake. It was never about the cheesecake.
