After my run, today, my brain was on overdrive. The strangest ideas coagulate in my head after some exercise. Usually it’s nothing of consequence, just the impact of adrenaline and oxygen on my brain cells. However, today was a bit different.
1) Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church represents the logical end to the concept of biblical inerrancy and a literal interpretation.
I don’t think I will go into any explanation over this. I’ll just let it stand on its own merit.
2) Today is the day of the big yard sale my wife is putting on.
(I hate yard sales. Not only do I get ignored–unless a Sherpa is required–for the better part of 4 days, it is much easier to me to just load up the pickup and make a trip to the free-store or to the dump. Reduce, reuse, and recycle your own old crap for the bottom-dwelling scum-suckers that mill around my yard for what otherwise would be a perfectly good Saturday… but I digress.)
I needed to run an errand in town, so I loaded up the kids and went at it. Along the way I decided to give them a treat by buying them a doughnut for breakfast-dessert. (Que Bill Cosby, Dad is great!) Not knowing the bounty that awaited them, they seemed more intent on complaining and resisting me about having to go to town, especially since they needed to keep an eye out for Mom selling their stuff. One child in particular was throwing a marginal fit about it, as the others grumbled and murmured in the background.
When I finished the errand, the cry of “What are we going to do nooowww?” rose from the rear of the vehicle. I answered by stating that I was going to let them pick out a doughnut, but because of all the whining, I was having second thoughts. The other three who were not fitting threw this one who was under the bus, in an instant.
“Well, I’m not whining. She is!”
“Yeah! Me, neither. Can we still get a doughnut?”
In an attempt to not be denied the doughnuts promised, three of my children united against the fourth, to scapegoat her.
Oh, my god!
After acting dumbfounded for a second or two, I defended my fitter and scolded the others for this. “We’re not going to blame her just so you guys get a treat! What has she done that you haven’t?” At that they fell quiet.
Since my promise of a doughnut was not based on their behaviors, we happily marched back home, booty in hand. All is well. But I’m left wondering, taken aback, really. The tendency toward scapegoating sacrifice really is ingrained in us. Either that or I’ve failed as a parent, already.
S. Mark Heim was right. Scapegoating is the essence of the Fall. Adam blamed Eve (and God). Eve blamed the Serpent. Cain blamed Abel. Esau blamed Jacob, Leah and Rachel blamed each other and Jacob’s ten older sons blamed Joseph. Moses blamed the Egyptian slave-driver and the Hebrew Slaves blamed Moses. Fred Phelps blames “fags”. Hitler blamed Jews. The Crusaders blamed Moslems. Israelis blame Palestinians. Osama bin Laden blames Americans. Evangelical Christians blame Atheists. On and on it goes, right down to my four kids, who would throw each other under the bus for a @#$%^&! doughnut.
If Jesus lived, if Jesus was who he said he was, if Jesus died, if Jesus was resurrected, then Jesus did it all to end this scapegoating. If not, if another explanation stands, then God is no different than all of us who would blame another, any other, just to gain an advantage or make ourselves look better.
If Jesus lived and died to continue the Divine scapegoating plan, then I want off the train. Such a god is simply a concept of ourselves, and doesn’t deserve anything from me.
But, if Jesus lived and died to save the scapegoats, and further to save the scapegoaters as well…
… nah, couldn’t be.
