Toward More Non-Scapegoating Environments
Recently, I spent a weekend hanging out with folks talking about open and relational theology and mimetic theory. A major topic of conversation was how we might contribute to the creation of non-scapegoating environments. What follows isn’t exhaustive, and none of it is linear, but I imagine––much the same way one might create interesting spaces by connecting dots––if one connected each of these ideas, an interesting space could be created as well; one that would allow us to operate in freedom and grace.
Eschew binaries.
Include and transcend. Give yourself grace and space to include antagonism without being defined by antagonism.
Cultivate an awareness of your own scapegoating tendencies and a healthy suspicion that whenever you’re pointing a finger, something may be pointing at you.
Love yourself, defined in this context as a)refusing to operate out of shame and insecurity such that you would shame or scapegoat yourself, and b)operating out of grace, agency, and autonomy. In other words, “believe” that God believes in you.
God believing in you is love, which is “withness” and acceptance. When we accept that, it allows others to imitate our acceptance of that.
See in loving your enemy that you are loving yourself. In a relational/mimetic universe, we’ve been conditioned to scapegoat our enemy partly because it works. Nothing feels more justified than shaming and ostracizing that which reminds us of our own deficiencies. Therefore, loving the other even as you’re seeing your deficiencies in the other is a powerful way to neutralize the pathogens in the mimetic air that all of us breathe.
Point out injustice but refuse the notion that you can label yourself in the good group simply because you’ve pointed out who is in the bad group and then made it clear that you’re not in the bad group!
Lovingly reject the notion of the super-religious, that is, that God is separate. In a relational cosmos, God is always with. (Think of Jesus… as everyone knows, he identified with the sinners.) Not only does the “separation of God” lead to the myth of redemptive sacrifice, its completely pointless… for how would creation even exist separate from God?
Positive mimesis identifies those people in your life who are operating not out of a sense of shame, insecurity, and rivalry but out of a sense of love. Do your best to imitate those kinds of people. Ultimately, I imagine Jesus is fulfilling this role for all of us. He is someone worthy of imitating. He never says, “bow down and worship me.” What he says is “come follow me.”
The cross isn’t where everything gets fixed; the cross is where everything is held together. Therefore, to carry your cross might mean creating space in the world to “hold stuff.” Good grief, that takes courage, intentionality, and love, so be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.
