yeah, i have been troubled by the girard philosophy. i think it's based in religious patriarchy. I think sacrificing a scapegoat reduces that internal stress we feel before we become violent. i think this is true on both a personal and societal level. i was part of a grassroots environmental movement that stopped the siting of a nuclear dump in some beautiful farmland. people were becoming so angry and stressed, and we felt so powerless, that muttered violence could be heard. people were beginning to make threats about destroying equipment, etc. so someone organized a bonfire night at which we burned some effigies. that symbolic violence, and being able to sing and chant and scream about it released the inner stress, reduced violence and allowed us to continue working together with passive resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience.
in effect, the violence of scapegoating sustains the overall violence.
sort of describes the crucifixion. i think there are may little crucifixions every day...i am reading peaceable kingdom by jan de hartog. i just finished the section where he tells the story of margaret fell discovering the conditions in which children lived in the prison. she moved in, and supported an 11 year old boy through his execution. i felt like i was there, the story drew me in. i could understand the need for a scapegoat by people living under such repressive, unjust law. i am still emotional about this...
i think girard was skimming the surface of violence. but his work inspires deeper work.
in writing this, i have begun thinking about the impotence of being the victim. we never lose that feeling of helplessness. it's that feeling that seems to erupt into violence against someone or something we perceive as weaker than we are. i think maybe this is the essence of bullying. we are bullied, we bully --- we are all just trying to not drown in this society.
so many images - like a boat going down and some of us are pushing others down to keep our heads above water, never knowing we can support each other and teach each other to tread water. i do know that everyone has to get their head above water if we want to learn to swim!
one of the most important books i ever read about violence was for their own good by alice miller. it's been about 20 years since i read it. i think it's time to read it again. if i remember correctly, she lays out her ideas, then does a deep analysis of two or three individuals. we could do something like that. take two or three people and tell their stories, and identify the moments of violation, and their psychological reaction, then their behavior changes as impacted by what happened. the young lady i mentioned, you met her when you were here, may be an important story. pretty girl from a middle class american family, college student - but beneath the typical american, successful facade is violence.
if we work with a few examples, and share the basic idea, analyze physiological changes, show how closely the mind and body are connected, then i think it could lead to an npo, maybe with teachings and support and another book...am i too much? i think the basic idea will draw people.
one last thought before i decide where to start my day...housework, garden, see if i can borrow my son's lawnmower - see how much my hand can take!
i was talking to a friend about not sharing some information. he told me that he is good at keeping secrets. he learned to keep secrets as a child. i said - good, but not good. he asked why it was not good. i responded that when children learn to keep secrets, it usually means something bad was going on at home. he told me that i understand.....
going back to margaret fell, i think, emotionally, many of us are trapped in prisons, in our minds, that are as hopeless and dark and dank as the physical prisons of that day. i pray we are the friends who help unlock these prisons.
i love you,
clare
how did it go with the licensing board?
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