Friday, March 19, 2010

More on Scapegoating Revealed in Scripture....

I closed the last post by saying that according to Girard the Bible is the only sacred writing that exposes (rather than hide) mimetic rivalry and scapegoating.  
From Genesis to Revelation, it becomes clearer and clearer with each book of the Bible...with each progressive chapter...with the turning of each page. And it not only exposes it, it provides an answer to the problem. The answer? Have this mind in you that was also in Christ Jesus. Put on the mind of Christ.
Lately, I've been reading through some articles about mimetic rivalry that I have saved on my computer.  I came upon the following quote from Mark Heim

Modern sensitivity to victims, which now makes people uneasy with the Bible, is rooted in the Bible.

He goes on to say that we would not be able to criticize the Scriptures of encouraging victimization(blood sacrifice/"holy wars"/scapegoating) if we had not already been converted by them. There are a whole slew of examples in the Bible that subtly....then more blatantly with the the crucifixion...reveal the scapegoating mechanism, the sacred violence human societies were founded upon.  There are many examples of mimetic rivalry and the turmoil it causes.  I will touch on some of those in upcoming posts.  But for now...I am sick, sick....very sick....with this kick ass cold that has had a grip on me all week.  I've spent most of my time....coughing, sniffling, sneezing and whining.  We are planning on going on vacation next week, to a conference at Justin Phillips church in Lake City, TN.  Hoping I am on the mend by then...and that I haven't passed this plague on to Keith.   

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