Moses and the Victimage Mechanism -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: [1], 2 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 10:45:59 04/07/08 Mon
Author: Kiernan
Subject: Moses and the Victimage Mechanism

As I was reading Exodus 17 this morning, I came across a very obvious instance of the scapegoat mechanism diverted. The text says:

But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17:3-6)

Chaos begins to spread through the Israelite camp. They blame it on lack of water, but it seems that a stronger mimetic crisis may be at work here. They begin to scapegoat Moses because of his position as leader of the group. He fears; he knows that the people will stone him. In an instance of a non-violent Old Testament God, Moses turns to the God of Victims, Yahweh. He begs for protection. And so God sends him to strike a rock. Such an act substitutes the rock for a human victim, and provides peace, symbolized by the flowing water. This accords with Girard's reading of the Old Testament, that the sacrificial mechanism is diverted onto non-human victims. Yet this text goes farther; it exonerates God from participation in violence. He hears the voice of the potential victim and intercedes for him.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]