Aporripsophobia, the fear of rejection, and the fear of punishment (mastigophobia, or as I prefer, “spankophobia”) are closely related. They define me. Much of this comes from the fear of Hell, which I internalized early in life, along with the Calvinistic theology that backed it. Some have thought that I’m “thin skinned” or afraid of criticism. That’s not quite it. I’m afraid of what criticism implies—I did something wrong and therefore may be punished for it. What brings this on, all of a sudden? Well, as I was getting ready to jog the other day a police car stopped in front of our house on a routine traffic violation. My immediate thought was that I had done something wrong. They were here for me, not the guy whose car they were attending. Then this brought back that time in Boston.
I moved to Boston on my own, with all I had in a VW Beetle (old style). I know now that the headache I had after that long drive was a migraine. (I’ve had maybe a half-dozen in my lifetime, and they’re unmistakable.) I parked the car, stumbled into my new apartment and went to bed. The next morning I had a ticket for parking with the left tires to the curb (against the law in Boston). I didn’t know it was illegal. Even with a migraine I would’ve not parked that way had I known. The receptionist at the police station actually said to me “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” That terrified me. I thought it was only something Gilligan said. If you don’t know all the laws how can you possibly avoid punishment? And isn’t punishment rejection?
Some think I always have to be right. They may not know the underlying cause—being wrong is to be subject to punishment. And punishment leads to Hell. When I was in Kindergarten the first time, I was held back partially because I was four but partially because I colored the triangle in the left corner purple instead of yellow, opposite to the verbal instructions. It was because I don’t know my right from my left—I still don’t. To me that first ever school correction was seared forever into my gray matter. I’d done something wrong. I was held back in school. More likely than not, I was going to Hell. I’ve known people to suggest, as does Richard Dawkins, that raising a child in a religion is child abuse. I understand parents’ motivation, however. You don’t want your child to go to Hell. If they end up living in it all their lives I guess it’s a small price to pay.
