I have been reading about a thesis by anthropologist, René Girard, which is very appropriate having just seen Nick Griffin of the BNP on Question Time:
“We are living in troubled times and people have become bothered and bewildered. When people are bothered and bewildered, great caution is needed because our instinctive response is scapegoating and death-dealing.
“Scapegoating seems to make us feel better – but at immense cost. All of us look for someone to blame, blaming appears as natural as the air we breathe... Tragically, there is plenty of evidence in our recent history to support Girard’s analysis...: the treatment of Jews, gypsies and homosexuals in Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and the degrading of indigenous people, are scarcely sufficient examples. The challenge that faces pastoral care in dismal times is to help us become robust enough ... to be able to resist this age-old temptation to seek out someone to blame and the ensuing socially cathartic bloodlust.”
Ann Morisy (From “Bothered and Bewildered: Enacting Hope in Troubled Times”, Continuum, 2009).
2 comments:
Scapegoating interesting topic .I hear what you say about the human instinct and the fact that we all have to stay vigilant regarding if we are using fall guys etc.Im sure that i agree with this but when it comes to genocide im afraid that i have a problem with believing that to condem a whole race,culture or religion is purely just needing someone to blame .i can see this on a local leval family,friends,workplaces and so on,even communities however when it comes to cold and calculated torture and murder i feel that there must be many other factors at work.
Always to be self aware is something that we can all develop but it isnt something that the world and/or school would automatically teach a child thats something that is a responsibilty of us all one way or another.Parents and other people who are not parents can still guide and this isnt always easy.This of course on its own is not enough so there have to be laws and legislation in place.No matter how democratic we are or like to feel that we are we cannot let the mob rule.
I suppose you cannot expect that people wont have an opinion however this is a far cry from allowing people to run amok.i think there is a line and it cannot be crossed even in a democracy because if it is crossed it will allow the facist regieme to rule.I suppose its all about balance.maybe also the supporters of bnp would always have been resenful of others because they do not have everything that they "want" not what they need. Jealousy is a big motivator it could also be the case that the word "evil" can be brought in somewhere as well.Dosnt evil thrive in these instances and i suppose for debating purposes this largly depends on what you believe in anyway.
I watched question time and didnt feel that Nick Griffiths did very well at all he came over as unprepared,immature and certainly not the most eloquent of speakers however I feel that he is a most dangerous person and as we all know capitalises on the influx into the uk.maybe the people who voted him in are misguided and misled but i am having trouble in going with that one.
i have for one reason and another spent many years for ever so many reasons dealing with so much. I like to think that i havent blamed anyone intentionally.I have made so many mistakes in my life but i hope that i dont blame uneccessarily anyway,in fact i see most of the problems in my life now stemming from my early days when i made mistakes
maybe also our human nature has a not so nice side and we have to keep our eyes wide open,like i say we have to teach the little ones. to be self aware and before we do this we have to be able to differentiate between this and self consciousness.So i suppose it follows that we can only teach what we know , interesting! Isnt it also worth a thought to wonder that the people who voted the bnp in have finally found a platform for good old fashioned racism .We know that it is alive and kicking.Is there also a case to say that when putting your x in the candadates box to vote it might be a good idea to consider just exactly who t these parties are and what they really stand for.If you know that they are racist and you still vote them in well then no amount of encouragment and education is going to help only the law and I think that is interesting.
It is interesting that when people are in prison and/or psychiatric hospitals they are not allowed a vote.I learned this when i was an RMN some years ago,its also interesting re racism ,bnp etc that the prisons do have an out of proportion black inmate population ,interesting again!Maybe our society is extremely misgiuded and misled .I saythis without letting anyone off the hook just a thought,so is it suprising that the bnp has a legal platform now?. I feel that you can pray evil away but im not sure about misguided and misled.
There is little doubt that the policies and views held by the BNP are in total conflict with not just the gospel message but the message given by all theologically sound religions throughout the world. The crux is simply a definition of neighbour. the BNP have a very narrow view of this and therefore will ultimately apeal to only a very narrow number of the populous. I for one see them as as much threat as screaming lord sutch. Maybe they will get a foothold or hold a seat ; but not for long anfd their views will never be taken seriously by any European or British electorate. People compare this to the rise of Hitler which is astounding! The situation is entirely different. First this is not post world war one Germany that had been totally suppressed; and secondly we are no longer a nationalistic society (except in football terms) because we are too diverse. The BNP will fade quickly as did Enoch. As for the BBc question time. This was a deliberate attempyt by Nick whatever his name is ! to ensure that he was controversial and therefore create a heated response that would lead to his complaint to the BBC. It was nothing more. But how weak was response from Jack Straw? At least some of the other panelists and certainly the audience were more plausible.
Our major concern should be the Copenhagen summit. Political pressure here is paramount if there is going to be any agreement at all regarding emmissions and climate change. We can all assess and the calculate the cost but who is going to take responcsibility of doing something about it?
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