Don’t Fall Into the Scapegoat Trap
December 15, 2015 by Fr. Dwight Longenecker
The Scapegoat – Wm. Holman Hunt
Don’t fall into the scapegoat trap.
In the Old Testament the scapegoat was literally a goat onto whom the people projected their sins. The goat was then sent out into the wilderness to wander alone until it died of thirst or was devoured by the wild beasts.
Here’s the passage from Leviticus 16 where this is commanded as part of the Old Testament religious ritual.
“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.
There is a powerful symbolism here because this is what we automatically do within our families, within our schools, our parishes and our larger communities. We project our fears, insecurities, sins, anger and rage on to an innocent victim. We put our trash on that other person or group of people.
We demonize them. We blame them. They are the problem and we are okay. Notice that this process is not rational. It is sub-rational. It is a deep instinct in the human condition and people from every society from the most primitive people in the jungle to the most primitive people in Manhattan do this.
We identify a particular person or category of person onto whom we shift all the blame. “Its all the rich people’s fault. It’s all the poor people’s fault. Its the white people’s fault. The problem is the blacks. Its the immigrants who are to blame. Its the comfortable rich Americans who are at fault. Its the politicians. Its the political outsiders. Its the Muslims. Its the Jews. Its the Christians. Its the atheists.”
Everybody finding somebody to blame, and the instinct is always with us and it is always of the devil.
The reason we look for someone to blame is because we don’t want to blame ourselves. We don’t want to take responsibility. We don’t want to admit that most of our problems are caused by our own inadequacies, our own greed, our own immaturity and insecurity.
Be wary of falling into the Scapegoat Trap.
Be especially wary of any religious or political leader who plays on this instinct. One of the weird things I am unhappy to find among some traditionalist Catholics, for example, is anti-Semitism. No it is not right to blame the Jews for the world’s problems. No it is not right to spin conspiracy theories about how “the dirty Jews” control the politics, the media and everything. No it is not sane to imagine that all your enemies are either Jews, Jew sympathizers, in the pay of the Jews or are secret Jews.
In America down the years there has been one long list of scapegoated groups of people. It was the Catholics. It was the Irish. It was the Italians. It was the Russians. It was the negroes. It was the Jews.
Now it is the Muslims.
If you are inclined to scapegoat all Muslims. Stop. Stop and think. Inform yourself. Read this article about Islam by a Christian Islamic scholar.
You don’t have to like Islam. That’s okay, you can understand and be opposed to the negative things about the Islamic religion and culture, but do not demonize all Muslims.
For example, be opposed to jihadists. Muslims themselves repudiate the claims and activities of ISIS. Go here.
Learn about the different traditions in Islam and how the Wahhabi and Salafi fundamentalist interpretations began and spread and how Saudi Arabian Muslims are one of the key players in the spread of Wahhabi Islam.
Realize that the jihadists’ actions are rooted in fundamental texts of the Quran, but also realize that their actions do not represent mainstream Islam. There are other interpretations of the violent and oppressive texts of the Quran just like there are alternative interpretations of the seemingly negative aspect of the Old Testament.
To do this is not to endorse Islam or be soft on Syrian immigration. Safeguards and restrictions are necessary and firm action against terror is vital.
Do all this not only to be informed, but to avoid the scapegoat trap because when a nation falls into the scapegoat trap they will eventually have to follow the logic.
The scapegoat logic is that the demonized person or group of people are the problem. If they are the problem, the problem needs to be solved. The way to solve the problem is to get rid of the people who are causing the problem, and if a certain person or group of people are causing the problem then they need to be got rid of.
Politicians who play on these fears and push the scapegoat button for political advantage are slime. They know what they’re doing and they’re playing you like a violin. They’re appealing to your ignorance, your fear and your self righteousness.
Be smarter than that.
All the immigrants are not the problem. Shipping them all back to where they came from is not the solution. Building a wall to keep them out is not the solution. All Muslims are not the problem. Keeping them all out simply on the basis of their religion is not the solution.
It’s not the solution because after they all go you will still have problems, and if you’re convinced that all the Muslims or all the Mexicans are the problem, then the next thing you’ll have to do is round them up and put them behind barbed wire somewhere, and once that’s done it’s not long before some maniac will call for “the final solution”
And when that happens you’ll turn a blind eye and ignore what is going on, and if you don’t think it can happen here you’re dangerously naive.
I’m a former Evangelical, then an Anglican priest, now a Catholic priest.
Comment:
"Immigration
and “slime”
Please consider the attached article from a
well-regarded Catholic priest in the US.
The priest pulls no punches when describing
self-serving politicians who pander to stereotypes when deciding immigration
issues. “Slime” is the word used by
the priest.
As we enter a new phase of political
leadership in Canada, we can only hope that our European trades workers will no
longer be treated as scapegoats in the name of protecting identifiable economic
interests. Naturally, said interests are heavy political contributors.
The new leadership must choose between
doing the right thing or doing the slimy thing. The options could not be
clearer.
The Federal Court has opened the door for
the new government to do some good. The Court has already ordered that Jason
Kenney and Chris Alexander acted “in bad
faith” towards our Italian, Portuguese and Polish trades workers. The Federal
Court has ordered the government to be ready to compensate trades workers for
the politically “slimy” treatment exhibited by Alexander and Kenney.
For the Liberals, doing the right thing
should be a no brainer. But never underestimate the “slime” power of heavy political
contributions.
Let us pray that the Liberal treatment of
the 25,000 Syrians reflects the spirit with which Ottawa will review the
impending removal from Canada of tax paying, well established European trades
workers.
As we pray, let us also prepare."
Richard Boraks, December 15 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment