Scapegoat
The
scapegoat was a
goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in
Judaism during the times of the
Temple in Jerusalem. The rite is described in
Leviticus 16. The word also refers, in modern parlance, to one who is blamed for misfortunes, often as a way of distracting attention from the real causes.
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The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt, 1854. Hunt had this framed in a picture with the quotations "Surely he hath borne our Griefs and carried our Sorrows; Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of GOD and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4) and "And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a Land not inhabited." (Leviticus 16:22) |
Two very similar-appearing male goats were brought into the courtyard of the
Temple in Jerusalem on Yom Kippur as part of the Holy Service of that day. The high priest cast lots for the two goats. One goat was offered as a
burnt offering, as was the bull. The second goat was the scapegoat. The high priest placed his hands on the head of the goat and confessed the sins of the people of Israel. The scapegoat was led away and let go in the wilderness according to Leviticus 16:22, although the
Talmud adds that it was pushed over a distant cliff.
In
modern Hebrew Azazel is used derogatorily, as in
lekh la-Azazel ("go to Azazel"), as in "go to
hell". (Azazel is the word translated as "scapegoat" in the
King James Version of the Bible.)
In
Christian theology, the story of the scapegoat in Leviticus is interpreted as a symbolic prefiguration of the self-sacrifice of
Jesus, who takes the sins of humanity on his own head, having been driven into the 'wilderness' outside the city by order of the high priests.
Controversial Christian anthropologist
René Girard has provided a reconstruction of the scapegoat theory. In Girard's view, it is humankind, not God, who has the problem with violence. Humans are driven by desire for that which another has or wants (mimetic desire). This causes a triangulation of desire and results in conflict between the desiring parties. This mimetic
contagion increases to a point where society is at risk; it is at this point that the
scapegoat mechanism is triggered. This is the point where one person is singled out as the cause of the trouble and is expelled or killed by the group. This person is the scapegoat. Social order is restored as people are contented that they have solved the cause of their problems by removing the scapegoated individual, and the cycle begins again. Girard contends that this is what happened in the case of
Jesus. The difference in this case, Girard believes, is that he was resurrected from the dead and shown to be innocent; humanity is thus made aware of its violent tendencies and the cycle is broken. Satan, who is seen to be manifested in the contagion, is cast out. Thus Girard's work is significant as a re-construction of the
Christus Victor atonement theory.
Figuratively, a
scapegoat is someone selected to bear
blame for a
calamity.
Scapegoating is the act of holding a person, group of people, or thing responsible for a multitude of problems. This is also known as a
frameup. Scapegoats can also be referred to as
patsies.
Political/sociological scapegoating
Scapegoating is an important tool of
propaganda; for example, the
Jews were singled out in
Nazi propaganda as the source of
Germany's economic woes and political collapse.
Scapegoating is often more devastating when applied to a minority group as they are inherently less able to defend themselves. A tactic often employed is to characterize an entire group of individuals according to the unethical or immoral conduct of a small number of individuals belonging to that group, also known as
guilt by association.
"Scapegoated" groups throughout history have included almost every imaginable group of people: adherents of different religion, people of different race or nation or political belief, people differing in behaviour of majority. However, scapegoating may also be applied to organizations, such as governments, corporations, or various political groups.
In industrialised societies, scapegoating of traditional minority groups is increasingly frowned upon. In the extreme, this may result in socially-enforced rules regarding speech, as in
political correctness.
Compare:
moral panic; hue and cry; witchhunt, shoot the messenger, Blame CanadaScapegoating in sports
In
sports, scapegoats are common. In
baseball,
Bill Buckner is blamed for losing the
1986 World Series due to a critical error. In
American football,
Scott Norwood is blamed for losing the
Super Bowl for the
Buffalo Bills during
Super Bowl XXV by missing a key field goal.
Andrés Escobar, a Colombian
football (soccer) player, was shot dead after he scored an
own goal that knocked his team out of the 1994 World Cup. The fact that fans of the
Chicago Cubs tell of a
Curse of the Billy Goat to explain why their team has not won a
National League pennant since
1945 should be viewed as a coincidence of language, regardless of how many fans may believe the story.
In
2005,
ESPN Classic created the series
The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame..., in which it examines why the conceived scapegoat(s) should, in fact,
not be held responsible.
Scapegoating in psychoanalytic theory
Psychoanalytic theory holds that unwanted thoughts and feelings can be unconsciously
projected onto another who becomes a scapegoat for one's own problems. This concept can be extended to projection by groups. In this case the chosen individual, or group, becomes the scapegoat for the group's problems.
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Shoot the messenger*
Coincidence theory*
'The Scapegoat' (1854), painting by William Holman Hunt
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Scapegoating in Group Analytic Theory (PDF files)
