da. Actually, I have scrupulosity and my headcanon is that Matt has it because I see a lot of it in Matt. Also, scrupulosity isn't just religious OCD. It's morality based OCD and a lot of the time it manifests as religion. I mean, have you ever met someone with scrupulosity? I don't think it's fair to think that you're entirely right about what could and could not happen with people with scrupulosity. And not all OCD is the same--Matt could have Pure-O. He definitely has obsessions with morality and violence, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had violent intrusive thoughts. And look, actually, the obsession with the Devil? Fits PERFECTLY for someone with scrupulosity.
Why? Because a lot of people with scrupulosity that involves a lot of religious stuff will focus on a part of the religion that's not that important. Look, here's literally a symptom of scrupulosity for you:
"Scrupulosity is different from normal moral or religious practice because oftentimes scrupulous behavior exceeds or disregards religious law and can focus excessively on one comparatively trivial area of religious practice while other areas are mostly or completely ignored."
This seems exactly like Matt and his fixation on the Devil. The Devil is absolutely comparatively trivial to, say, God or Jesus in Catholicism.
Look, here's some other symptoms of scrupulosity that Matt has:
- pathological guilt about moral or religious issues (literally this is half the show) - obsessions focus on moral or religious issues (Matt's obsessed with the idea that he might be or become evil, he has a fixation on death, and he has a fixation on behaving morally with a twisted moral system, which is textbook scrupulosity) - mental of behavioral compulsions (what Matt has: obsessively seeking reassurance from religious leaders and loved ones, acts of self-sacrifice)
So, yeah. Literally everything you said as "strikes against" his having scrupulosity actually fit scrupulosity just fine. And I think a lot of Matt's behavior is irrational and he's not well-adjusted at all. It's not rational to nearly kill yourself and then get right up and nearly kill yourself again *for other people you don't know*.
Those are definitely self-sacrificing tendencies. And he treats the moral question of how to deal with Fisk in a way that keeps with scrupulosity. NO ONE'S SENSE OF MORALITY IS THE SAME, and the morals of people with scrupulosity tend to be really confusing and twisted to anyone but themselves (and even then, they're still confusing), so it actually makes sense that Matt wouldn't immediately be totally unable to consider killing someone. Not everyone with scrupulosity has the same moral code! Not every Catholic has the same moral code! Not every Catholic with scrupulosity has the same moral code! You're thinking of scrupulosity as something surprisingly rational for a kind of OCD, where people have a moral code and they stick to it, and it's the same moral code for everyone.
Look, as a Catholic, there are literally parts of the Bible that Matt could read that would agree with killing people for being Evil. And one of the things about scrupulosity, one of the HORRIBLE things, is that the moral code isn't unshakable, just like Matt's. And then when it's shaken it sends you into a spiral of guilt and terror and fear of being evil. Matt obsesses over killing Fisk for a long time and he continues to obsess over it. I wouldn't be surprised if he had intrusive thoughts of it. He can't think of anything else. He *fixates* on it. He seeks reassurance from Father Lantom over it. I'm sorry, but that seems like scrupulosity to me.
It seems completely irrational for a guy who's obsessed with morality and religion to dress up as the Devil and do what Matt does? Yeah, you actually mention it--since when has OCD been rational?
Sincerely, A Practicing Catholic With Scrupulosity Who Would Really Appreciate It If People Would Let Her Keep The Representation She's Found For Herself, Thanks
Re: FILL: For a Brief Moment (2/?)
Why? Because a lot of people with scrupulosity that involves a lot of religious stuff will focus on a part of the religion that's not that important. Look, here's literally a symptom of scrupulosity for you:
"Scrupulosity is different from normal moral or religious practice because oftentimes scrupulous behavior exceeds or disregards religious law and can focus excessively on one comparatively trivial area of religious practice while other areas are mostly or completely ignored."
This seems exactly like Matt and his fixation on the Devil. The Devil is absolutely comparatively trivial to, say, God or Jesus in Catholicism.
Look, here's some other symptoms of scrupulosity that Matt has:
- pathological guilt about moral or religious issues (literally this is half the show)
- obsessions focus on moral or religious issues (Matt's obsessed with the idea that he might be or become evil, he has a fixation on death, and he has a fixation on behaving morally with a twisted moral system, which is textbook scrupulosity)
- mental of behavioral compulsions (what Matt has: obsessively seeking reassurance from religious leaders and loved ones, acts of self-sacrifice)
So, yeah. Literally everything you said as "strikes against" his having scrupulosity actually fit scrupulosity just fine. And I think a lot of Matt's behavior is irrational and he's not well-adjusted at all. It's not rational to nearly kill yourself and then get right up and nearly kill yourself again *for other people you don't know*.
Those are definitely self-sacrificing tendencies. And he treats the moral question of how to deal with Fisk in a way that keeps with scrupulosity. NO ONE'S SENSE OF MORALITY IS THE SAME, and the morals of people with scrupulosity tend to be really confusing and twisted to anyone but themselves (and even then, they're still confusing), so it actually makes sense that Matt wouldn't immediately be totally unable to consider killing someone. Not everyone with scrupulosity has the same moral code! Not every Catholic has the same moral code! Not every Catholic with scrupulosity has the same moral code! You're thinking of scrupulosity as something surprisingly rational for a kind of OCD, where people have a moral code and they stick to it, and it's the same moral code for everyone.
Look, as a Catholic, there are literally parts of the Bible that Matt could read that would agree with killing people for being Evil. And one of the things about scrupulosity, one of the HORRIBLE things, is that the moral code isn't unshakable, just like Matt's. And then when it's shaken it sends you into a spiral of guilt and terror and fear of being evil. Matt obsesses over killing Fisk for a long time and he continues to obsess over it. I wouldn't be surprised if he had intrusive thoughts of it. He can't think of anything else. He *fixates* on it. He seeks reassurance from Father Lantom over it. I'm sorry, but that seems like scrupulosity to me.
It seems completely irrational for a guy who's obsessed with morality and religion to dress up as the Devil and do what Matt does? Yeah, you actually mention it--since when has OCD been rational?
Sincerely,
A Practicing Catholic With Scrupulosity Who Would Really Appreciate It If People Would Let Her Keep The Representation She's Found For Herself, Thanks