"Liberators" and "Oppressors"

A real idealist is often mistaken as an "oppressor."

Then, the person fighting this “oppressive” figure is seen as a type of liberator when they are really driven by self-centered defiance. 

Christians,

Many times, a real idealist is misperceived as an oppressive authority figure.  Then, the person fighting this “oppressive” figure is seen as a type of liberator when they are really driven by self-centered defiance.  Consider an example from a family situation.

A mother doesn’t like how her eldest daughter keeps joking around about how “stupid” her younger sister is.  The mother knows that it can be very difficult to stop the eldest daughter from doing something like that once she starts.   The mother is also exhausted this morning and knows that she will only be fighting a common and innate behavior of many siblings. 

However, her belief in what is right and her sense of empathy for the younger daughter make her determined to try to stop the situation.  She firmly tells the eldest daughter that if she calls her sister stupid one more time that she isn’t allowed to go out with her friends that night.  Her oldest son then loudly asks his mother why she has to be so controlling.  This gives the eldest daughter the confidence to shout out that she hates being controlled all the time.  Then, she immediately starts texting her friends about it.  She texts that her brother is trying to help her out because her mom is always telling her what to do every second. 

In other words, the mother is the idealist who rows against the tide of human nature with her beliefs and sense of empathy as her oars.  The son is seen as a type of liberator who accuses the mother of being controlling.  It needs to be noted that he also often makes fun of his little sister and hates hearing about consequences, even if they are to deter harm.  However, the mother is only thinking about how the youngest daughter is hurting on the inside when she didn’t do anything wrong.  The mother is acting based on this sense of empathy and her beliefs.  This type of situation—where the “oppressor” and “liberator” are mislabeled happens frequently and is seen across spheres of life.