Scapegoating

Image courtesy Slideserve

 Now that Easter has come and gone, perhaps it's a fitting time to consider the story of redemption. 

It's been a part of my upbringing and life as a practicing Catholic as long as I can remember, although to be honest, I haven't really given it much thought.  

Essentially, it's a story about hope. Everyone, no matter how evil, can be redeemed. That's an amazing concept. We can each be saved, not by what we do, but by what someone else does for us.

I saw one side of that as a soldier where I witnessed fellow diggers putting their own lives at risk to save others. It was a profoundly moving experience.

Unfortunately, there is a flip side to the redeemer narrative. It's about scapegoating.

You have only to access social media for a short time to witness frequent and consistent blaming, and it's a very short step from blaming to scapegoating. 

That scapegoating is generally pretty mindless, and mostly consists of labelling anyone or anything that is mildly different or novel as being responsible for all the evils in the world. The attacks on people who identify as non-binary is perhaps the clearest example.  

Social media has become the temple in which this phenomenon is worshipped, and perhaps it's time for the story recounted by Matthew (21:12-13) to be repeated in that space. 

The new ACMA powers are a great start, but there needs to be much more extensive activity if our country's future is  to be assured.