Aaron Cariotti

is broken and i don't trust doctors i don't trust hospitals i don't trust the whole machinery because of you know whatever this murder is obviously not going to resolve that and so the catharsis does happen but it's always only temporary and then the social tension builds up again and the scapegoating cycle just repeats itself until we step back and get out of this mass formation and realize that it doesn't work and this is why i think matthias is

is broken and i don't trust doctors i don't trust hospitals i don't trust the whole machinery because of you know whatever this murder is obviously not going to resolve that and so the catharsis does happen but it's always only temporary and then the social tension builds up again and the scapegoating cycle just repeats itself until we step back and get out of this mass formation and realize that it doesn't work and this is why i think matthias is

description of what needs to happen in order to protect yourself from and extricate from this phenomenon of mass formation is so important for us to heed.

description of what needs to happen in order to protect yourself from and extricate from this phenomenon of mass formation is so important for us to heed.

If you look at the history of religion, this is a very, very excellent question, really important question. The word scapegoat actually comes from the Hebrew Bible, from the Jewish Old Testament, where essentially the Hebrew people on the Day of Atonement would place the sins of the people onto the head of literally of a goat, and they would take it out into the desert and throw it off a cliff.

If you look at the history of religion, this is a very, very excellent question, really important question. The word scapegoat actually comes from the Hebrew Bible, from the Jewish Old Testament, where essentially the Hebrew people on the Day of Atonement would place the sins of the people onto the head of literally of a goat, and they would take it out into the desert and throw it off a cliff.

They would sacrifice it. as this kind of, again, symbolic ritual of cleansing from sin. And probably there was some degree of reduction of social tension in there. And then you see this in pagan religions. You mentioned the Aztecs. Basically, most religious systems throughout human history, people had the implicit sense that something is off kilter, right? In Christian terms, that would be

They would sacrifice it. as this kind of, again, symbolic ritual of cleansing from sin. And probably there was some degree of reduction of social tension in there. And then you see this in pagan religions. You mentioned the Aztecs. Basically, most religious systems throughout human history, people had the implicit sense that something is off kilter, right? In Christian terms, that would be

that would be called original sin. But the universe is out of whack. Society is out of whack in some ways. The human nature is off kilter. And something needs to be done to sort of make reparation for that. And then in some cases, this took the extreme form of actually sacrificing human beings and not just animals or grain or something that was valuable to the community.

that would be called original sin. But the universe is out of whack. Society is out of whack in some ways. The human nature is off kilter. And something needs to be done to sort of make reparation for that. And then in some cases, this took the extreme form of actually sacrificing human beings and not just animals or grain or something that was valuable to the community.

Gerard's insight about Christianity is interesting because he said, yes, you obviously see that scapegoating mechanism in the story of the crucifixion. And it's, I mean, it's a clear Isabel example of the scapegoating mechanism at work. But what the Christian story does to sort of turn that on its head is the revelation that actually, in this case, the victim is innocent.

Gerard's insight about Christianity is interesting because he said, yes, you obviously see that scapegoating mechanism in the story of the crucifixion. And it's, I mean, it's a clear Isabel example of the scapegoating mechanism at work. But what the Christian story does to sort of turn that on its head is the revelation that actually, in this case, the victim is innocent.

The victim in this case is entirely innocent, the most innocent victim. um which if we were to uh morally ethically spiritually fully assimilate that truth should rob the scapegoating mechanism of its power of its social force um and you know should be as as you pointed out should be the end of of all of this repeated uh attempts to um

The victim in this case is entirely innocent, the most innocent victim. um which if we were to uh morally ethically spiritually fully assimilate that truth should rob the scapegoating mechanism of its power of its social force um and you know should be as as you pointed out should be the end of of all of this repeated uh attempts to um

to right all wrongs through the sacrifice of, um, of other human beings. Uh, but of course we haven't assimilated that, that truth fully of the, the innocence of the scapegoated victim. And so, you know, we continue to do it over and over again. We continue, uh, to place, you know, all of our social problems onto the head of a CEO of a company or some political leader or, um, you know,

to right all wrongs through the sacrifice of, um, of other human beings. Uh, but of course we haven't assimilated that, that truth fully of the, the innocence of the scapegoated victim. And so, you know, we continue to do it over and over again. We continue, uh, to place, you know, all of our social problems onto the head of a CEO of a company or some political leader or, um, you know,

some other figure that becomes sort of the public object of this repeated mechanism. So I think one of the things that the story of the crucifixion, whether or not you're a Christian, the story of the crucifixion, if you read it very carefully, should remind you of is that the victim, the scapegoated victim in this case, is innocent.

some other figure that becomes sort of the public object of this repeated mechanism. So I think one of the things that the story of the crucifixion, whether or not you're a Christian, the story of the crucifixion, if you read it very carefully, should remind you of is that the victim, the scapegoated victim in this case, is innocent.

Maybe not wholly innocent, maybe not perfect like Christ, but certainly not responsible for everything that has been placed on his or her head. And as Matthias points out, this cannot be the resolution or the solution to the underlying social tensions, free-floating anxiety, loneliness, isolation, alienation that is currently infecting our society. It won't work.

Maybe not wholly innocent, maybe not perfect like Christ, but certainly not responsible for everything that has been placed on his or her head. And as Matthias points out, this cannot be the resolution or the solution to the underlying social tensions, free-floating anxiety, loneliness, isolation, alienation that is currently infecting our society. It won't work.