The scapegoating mechanism is built on lies: that the scapegoat really is guilty; that the scapegoat is furthermore to blame for this frenzy of anger we find ourselves in; that the scapegoating is about the scapegoat, not about ourselves. No lynch mob ever proclaimed, “Hey, let’s take a totally innocent person and project our own shortcomings on him to make ourselves feel better!”
The only ancient text Girard could find that contained a denunciation, rather than an endorsement, of scapegoating, is the Bible. The Bible also has its narrative of founding murder. But while Rome’s myth states that Remus was guilty and needed to die, the Bible says that “Abel the Just” was innocent, and has its god character protect his murderer Cain from scapegoating vengeance.
The Bible also contains one of the most striking stories in all of human literature: the story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery. The reason why the phrase “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” has resonated so deeply in every age and culture is precisely because it strikes at the core of the scapegoat mechanism. It really didn’t matter to anyone whether the woman actually committed adultery; and the lynch mob was just as guilty, or just as innocent, as her. Once the reality of the scapegoat mechanism was exposed, the men could only realize the futility of what they were about to do.
The only way to defeat the scapegoat mechanism is to expose it. And so I’m doing my best here, and I hope you will, too.
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