The Evil of Scapegoating
The High Priest of the Temple of David approaches the altar slowly. He bows his head reverently then lifts his gaze towards the two goats tied to a pole next to the stone altar in the inner sanctum. The sweet, citrusy smell of burning frankincense permeates the air as the bleating sound of the goats echoes off the walls. They tug nervously against the ropes, hooves clapping on the marble floor with each jerking movement.
The priest reaches under his robe and rests his hand on the handle of the ceremonial knife. He draws it out of its sheath as he slowly walks toward one of the goats, now in a state of panic at the sight of the approaching man. Grabbing the goat from behind, he gently moves its head over the golden bowl on the floor below. He slides the blade smoothly across the neck of the animal.
It gasps for air one last time as its head drapes sideways across the crook of the man’s arm. Blood pours out steadily, streaming into the golden bowl and filling it to the rim. He lifts the bowl over his head and declares, “May all the people of Israel be forgiven, including all the strangers who live in their midst, for all the people are at fault!” He then picks up the golden bowl and tosses the blood onto the altar.
He unties the other goat and walks him out of the temple and through the gate towards a group of temple priests who take him out past the sight of the city, releasing him to the wilderness.
The Scapegoat of Atonement
While celebrated much differently today, the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement is the culmination of the ten days of Rosh Hashana which is a time of repentance and reflection on one’s sins. It is celebrated by fasting and prayer to ask God for forgiveness of all sins committed in the last year.
In the ancient sacrificial ceremony, the sins of the people of Israel were removed by the blood of a slain goat which took the place of the guilty. As part of the ritual, a second goat was released outside the walls of the city and set free into the wilderness. This goat represented the sins of the people being released and forgiven based on the sacrifice of the one that was slain.
In 1530, the biblical scholar William Tinsdale, who was translating the Hebrew bible into English, needed another word for the goat that got away. He came up with the term “escape goat” for the released animal because it escaped the judgment of God. It has since become known as “scapegoat” which is a term used for someone who is wrongfully blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others.
The people of Israel believed that this ritual of atonement must be repeated every year for the forgiveness of the sins of the people. However, as Christians, we believe that the blood of Jesus shed on the cross was the final and forever sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. No further sacrifice is needed.
The most innocent human to ever walk the face of the earth became the ultimate scapegoat by taking the punishment for all sin in the world from then on and forever.
As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10: 8-10)
History of Scapegoating
Throughout history, the Jewish people have often been made scapegoats by the various communities and nations in which they have lived. The ultimate example was the persecution and extermination of the Jews by Hitler and his Nazi regime.
These atrocities did not happen overnight. Shortly after taking the reins of the government, the Nazis enacted laws that slowly began taking the rights of citizenship away from the Jews. Of course, this culminated in what Hitler called the “final solution” which resulted in the death of over 6 million innocent men, women, and children in the Nazi death camps.
To support his quest to unify Germany under his power, Hitler needed a scapegoat he could blame for society’s problems. At .5%, the Jews were a tiny minority who had relatively little economic or political influence and no natural constituency to come to their defense.
There was already a growing anti-semitic climate in Europe which had been building for years.
In speech after speech, Hitler stoked hatred by vilifying and dehumanizing the Jews, blaming them for every perceived problem facing German society.
Once he soaked the German people with enough hate and vitriol, all he had to do was light the match and ride the flames of hatred to the Chancellor’s seat.
Hitler’s lies still pervade our society even today. For instance, I was talking with a friend of mine about this the other day and he restated the lie that even though the Jews were a small minority they controlled the majority of the wealth in Germany. Of course, the implication was that they had the power to cheat or rig the system to hoard wealth that rightfully should have gone to non-Jewish citizens.
However, the fact is that German Jews in 1933 owned less than .75% of the wealth of Germany which is close to their percentage of the population.
Historians continue to study how Hitler convinced a country that at the time had the most educated and advanced citizenry in the world to go along with his lies.
It is even more shocking when we consider that Germany was an overwhelmingly Christian nation (over 88% in 1933). It was after all the country which produced Martin Luther and was the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation.
The Wolf’s Claim to Christianity
Contrary to popular belief, Hitler was not an atheist. He was raised by a devout Catholic mother, attended Catholic schools, and was even an altar boy. In his autobiography, Mein Kempf, he mentions a divine creator several times in his pledge to rid the world of the “Jewish scourge.”
For instance, on page 60 he writes,” Hence today I believe I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. By defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”
In many of his speeches, he also mentioned the importance of Christianity to German society and its character. For instance, in October 1928, he told an audience that the Nazis “tolerate no-one in our ranks who attacks the ideas of Christianity. Our movement is Christian. We are filled with a desire for Catholics and Protestants to discover one another”
In another speech he said, “ I pledge that I never will tie myself to parties who want to destroy Christianity. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press. In short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture, as a result of liberal excess.”
Hitler also justified his anti-semitism by claiming that he was providing retribution against the Jews because of their role in the execution of Jesus. This was an old trope passed down from the middle ages used to stoke anti-semitism for centuries.
Indeed, it wasn’t until 1965 that the Catholic Church decreed officially that Jews were not collectively guilty of the death of Christ.
The rest, as they say, is history. We know that Hitler obviously did not believe anything he said relative to the true Christian faith but was only using the language of Christianity to persuade the people to give him their support. He was the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing, using the cover of Christianity to hide his true evil intentions.
Modern Day Scapegoats
Unfortunately, the ugly practice of scapegoating, especially for political purposes, is alive and well today. We see marginalized groups being blamed for every type of ill in society and used as pawns in the struggle for power in our own country and around the world.
Opponents are vilified, dehumanized, and demonized to create an emotional atmosphere of fear and hatred toward them. This is accomplished by labeling an entire group with stereotypical attributes based on the most extreme members and caricatures of the group or on ones that are fabricated.
Once the group has been labeled, fear and anger are stoked to the point where their humanity is stripped from them, justifying any action against them. Members of this “evil” group are therefore considered existential threats that need to be removed from society at all costs. Anyone who comes to the defense of the group, even on the grounds of common humanity, is called a sympathizer and labeled the same. Sound familiar?
More alarmingly, just as in pre-war Germany, much of this scapegoating is claimed to be done in the name of God to “restore morality” and “order”. However, in most cases, it is used to mask the true intention of acquiring power at all costs.
Dehumanization is Idolatry
The fact is that dehumanizing our fellow man violates the command given to us by Jesus to love the Lord God (wherever He is found) with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12: 30-31).
Scripture tells us that God can be found in all human beings because we are made in His image. If this is the case, denying humanity in others is denying the power and truth of God’s word. We are in effect claiming that, like God, we have the power to pronounce judgment on our fellow man, condemn him for his sins, and strip him of God’s presence.
So God created mankind in his own image,
Genesis 1:27
in the image of God he created them
This assumption of God’s power is the ultimate form of idolatry at best and at worst is the very spirit of demonism. Like Satan, we become an agent of division working to separate God from his creation. As it turns out, when we demonize others we are doing the work of demons.
Dehumanizing others also violates the command to love others as we love ourselves. As believers in Christ, do we consider ourselves less than human? Do we dare to deny the image of God in ourselves by denying it in others? Can the Holy Spirit truly live in us if this is the case?
Conclusion
As Christians, we must be mindful not to play into Satan’s scheme to separate man from God by scapegoating and demonizing others. Watch out for those, especially in leadership positions, who tell us what we want to hear to mask their real quest for worldly power.
They will say they are advancing God’s kingdom by using the worldly and sinful levers of power but the only kingdom they are advancing is their own.
As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” There is no greater warning than this.
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
Matthew 7:15
