Originally posted on August 26, 2020 @ 3:53 PM
Heaven ‘n Hell and the Safety Religion
I try not to get surprised by the amount of safety delusion that gets sent to me each week. Most of it is packaged in religious discourse and soteriology (salvation discourse) all about playing ‘god’ over other people. The sense of omnipotence displayed in the language is astounding; at worst it could be branded ‘crusading’ (https://safetyrisk.net/are-you-a-safety-crusader-or-a-safety-leader/) at best a spiritual fantasy.
Of course, I get lampooned often about being religious simply because I apply theological epistemology to the semiotics, linguistics and hermeneutics of this industry that loves to brag about its professionalism. Without a transdisciplinary sense of theology, poetics and semiotics Safety will continually slide into this religious discourse about ‘saving lives’ and establishing heaven (or not) on earth. One of the reasons it speaks so much religious discourse is because its founding disciplines of science and engineering have little cognizance of linguistics and semiotics. Even when trying to refute the religiosity of zero it uses religious language like ‘agnostic’ to disown its own theology (https://www.aihs.org.au/news-and-publications/news/what-do-when-vision-zero-new-global-line ).
There is so much religious discourse in the safety industry its hard to know where to start. The Bradley Curve (‘natural instincts’ for harm) is perhaps one of the worst (https://safetyrisk.net/dark-waters-the-true-story-of-dupont-and-zero/) but many others in their language maintain this crazy idea that humans have fallen from perfection, drifted into failure or some other language for Augustine’s concoction of Original Sin. Poor noisy Safety using all the language of faith and salvation without a clue of how cultic it is. Didn’t you know ‘safety saves’. Sounds like a Jerry Falwell Jr by-line (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8662169/Pool-boy-claims-Jerry-Falwell-Jr-watched-Speedos-sex-Becki.html) and don’t forget to pledge those dollars. Oh well, at least they’ve got Covid sorted (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsGbk820O_Y). Seriously?
How strange those professions like nursing and medicine don’t get caught up in this kind of silly religious discourse even though their work is far more significant. It’s like the safety industry out of massive insecurity has to keep shouting its significance so someone might listen. I know, let’s talk about getting people into heaven that might draw attention.
Of course the greatest religious symbol of all is zero, ah one day humans will become infallible. Ah the celestial goals of cardinal sins and life saving rules. If only god was looking down from heaven I’m sure she would be pleased.
It would be so easy to get rid of all this nonsense religious and cultic language, we all know how to censor language (https://safetyrisk.net/censorship-and-taboos-in-safety/) and make certain discourse taboo. If Safety was understood as a helping and caring activity then it wouldn’t need all this language about heaven, faith and Original Sin.
How offensive bundling us together with religious nut jobs, so sorry, just believe (https://safetyrisk.net/no-evidence-for-the-religion-of-zero/ ). I might just leave you with one of the pics from the zero Hillsong convention of 2017 and still the global mantra for the safety industry.
