The Final Scapegoat!

The terrorists’ attack in Brussels ignites yet another round of scapegoating and blame casting for the murderous acts of radical Islamists. Shortly after the deadly attack presidential candidates began scapegoating all Muslims for these senseless attacks, calling for a halt on all refugees entering the United States. 

One candidate called for a policing and monitoring of Muslim neighborhoods within the United States. If we listen to these fear mongering voices we will round up all American Muslims (about 1% of our total population, over six thousand of which serve in the U.S. military today) and place them in detention camps similar to what we did to American Japanese following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Scapegoating is a by-product of fear and misunderstanding (and ignorance). It is also a political tool to unify and gather support, to rally the troops. Hitler scapegoated the Jews and Gypsies for Germany’s national woes during the 1930s. American politicians have in the past scapegoated the poor when the economy is weak, calling for a reduction of social assistance programs (as if welfare alone can actually be the reason for a bad economy and high national debt).

Scapegoating, according to the late French scholar René Girard, has been around a very long time indeed. As ancient societies grew and conflicts between them intensified societies needed to relieve the tensions caused by these conflicts; thus, according to Girard the scapegoating mechanism was created. 

A victim (scapegoat) must be blamed and punished.

This form of scapegoating was very primitive and one of the earliest scapegoating mechanisms created. Over time the scapegoat moved from sacrificing humans to animals (thank God). For some reason once the victim was sacrificed, for the good of the community, some normalcy was restored. Tensions were relieved. Communities could get on with their lives until another sacrifice was needed.

Then in the New Testament we are introduced to the ultimate Scapegoat: Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus became the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. He became the innocent victim that bore the sins of the world. Today is that day in which Jesus hung from that rugged old cross as he bore the sins of humanity for humanity. 

God in the flesh, whose flesh was torn and ripped apart and nailed to a cross by a religious institution hell bent to protect itself from a prophetic intruder and a powerful government determined to rule by power and violence. 

Let it be said that religion and politics make for a lethal combination when they climb into bed with one another. Perhaps Nietzsche was right, we have killed God. We have indeed nailed the last Scapegoat to a tree. God forgive us. God forgive us for confusing the two as being complimentary partners in world affairs.

Ever since Christianity ceased being a subversively illegal movement in the 4th century her marriage to the Empire has caused untold suffering to the very ones Jesus came to liberate (Luke 4).

Yet today we continue the age-old practice of scapegoating and thus blaming the ones on the bottom or on the fringe of society for our troubles. We fail to see that the line of evil runs squarely through all human hearts, that we all have one thing in common, rich or poor, powerful or weak, privileged or otherwise: 

We share a dark side that brings out the worse in all of us. We are to blame! The final Scapegoat was for us.

The poor are not the reason for a nation’s financial woes; one single religion is not responsible for the threats of worldwide terrorism; immigrants are not the reason we have employment problems in this country. 

Good Friday reminds us that Jesus came to lift up those who find themselves on the bottom of society’s ladder. He came to offer freedom from economic exploitation and nationalistic fervor that blames the outsider for its woes.

Jesus became our final Scapegoat.

God decided to end this business of sacrificing others for our own woes. The Bible in fact makes it clear that God hated sacrifices. So God decided to become the ultimate sacrifice that would liberate the world from itself; that would free us all from ourselves.

Those on the bottom, those in the middle, and those on top of society have been given a new opportunity to live freely as God intended for us to live. We can stop all this business of blaming others for what we perceive is wrong with our own personal lives or what is wrong with our world.

When we look into the eyes of the poor standing on the wrong side of the tracks we can either see them as a threat or as a redeemed child of God, who Himself bore all the blame on their behalf.

Jesus is the final Scapegoat. 

We have no one to blame but ourselves for the mess our world is in today.

God bears our blame once and for all!

Good Friday reminds us of this eternal truth!