Key Concepts: Scapegoating, First Principle, Memetic Crisis, and Florence Study Abroad

Scapegoating and Binding

Scapegoating is a social mechanism to restore order by expelling or destroying a scapegoat; described with the term pharmakos as a way communities protect themselves.
Atonement = being made one again with the community; framed as the ultimate binding process. The phrase often heard: to be at one with others.
Memetic crisis: when there is no single unifying principle, different groups love different things, leading to endless conflict and social fragmentation. Examples: competing loves like freedom, money, health, technology.
Religion as binding: human beings are fundamentally social and require a binding principle to stay together. The first principle unifies what we love and governs how we live.
First principle = the bedrock order that determines what counts as right or true; when this is weak or chaotic, scapegoating becomes the norm.
Atonement and belonging: belonging is achieved through a shared binding principle; in sports or dorm life, breaches of belonging trigger collective responses to restore unity.
The problem with many modern societies: multiple competing unities make it hard to bind people together; no universal standard to adjudicate conflicts, leading to perpetual mimetic crisis.
In contrast, the Christian view introduced later in the discussion presents a different binding: God creates order (not chaos) and offers reconciliation, which can resolve crises without bloodshed.
The critique: if the first principle is chaos, violence and scapegoating are inevitable; if the first principle is order and sacredness of persons, bloodless binding and reconciliation become possible.
Key terms: scapegoating, pharmakos, first principle, memetic desire, atonement, religious animal.

Religious Binding and the First Principle

Humans are described as inherently religious animals because social life requires binding together through shared belief and practice.
Religion includes both beliefs and practices; you learn what people believe by observing what they do (ecclesial context, services, rites).
Etymology: religion derives from religio, meaning to bind again; social fragmentation is the opposite of binding.
First principle: the ultimate source by which a community orders itself; without a solid first principle, communities drift into competing aims and division.
Atonement’s literal sense: a condition of being “at one,” which rebinds a fractured community through reconciliation.

Historical and Mythic Examples of Scapegoating

Sumerians and surrounding ancient cultures:
- Creation myths tied to chaos and order; the world and humans are formed in a ritualed order to serve the gods.
- Some myths describe the world as born from the blood of a slain god; earth is portrayed with feminine imagery and rain as symbolic of life (sperm analogy).
- Practices included ritual prostitution and child sacrifice to deities like Moloch/Baal to appease gods and secure rain and crops.
- The king or priestly class often served as mediators between chaos and order through ritual actions.
- These practices illustrate attempting to bind a community through violent ritual to secure fertility and rainfall; the underlying first principle was chaos and fear of drought.
This historical lens shows how ritual violence functions as a binding mechanism when reality is perceived as fundamentally chaotic.

Inversion through Christianity: A Path to Nonviolent Binding

The Christian narrative (via Genesis 1) reframes the world as created in order rather than chaos; God’s creative act establishes order and peace.
If the world is fundamentally ordered, the impulse to scapegoat can be redirected toward reconciliation and mediation rather than bloodshed.
The question becomes: is there a common good that can bind people without destroying those who differ? Is there a binding principle that endures through conflict?
This sets up the later argument in the text for a nonviolent binding mechanism through forgiveness, mercy, and shared belonging, rather than through purging the other.

The Florence Study Abroad Opportunity (Dean Zigmon)

Speaker: Doctor Brian Zigmon (the Dean) describing study abroad offerings in the College of Liberal Arts; emphasis on Florence trip with Professor Heil.
Duration and credits: 23 days; 6 credits; two courses (History and Art History) fulfilling the Global Encounters requirement; also contributes to Ethical Leaders program.
Schedule: Florence-based with travel to Rome, Siena, Pisa; day trips and structured excursions; clubs and guided activities with faculty leaders.
Living arrangements: apartments in central Florence (two-bedroom units); includes Wi-Fi and laundry; accommodation near a central church; meals self-catered with access to markets.
Cost and enrollment: tuition included in trip cost; airfare included; food not included; the total cost is effectively the tuition plus flight for the six credits; up to 26 seats on the bus, with ongoing outreach to fill seats (currently about 19 filled).
Benefits emphasized: immersive, faculty-led travel, direct exposure to global contexts, and practical engagement through the Global Encounters requirement; importance of experiential learning for Ethical Leaders.
How to participate: flyer with QR code links to a newsletter for information; contact details provided through the dean’s office; June 12 to July 6 timeline.
Light remarks: the dean’s playful self-introduction as a goat; emphasizes the personal and memorable nature of the program.

Quick Reference Terms

Scapegoating: mechanism to restore social order by expelling or harming a figure believed to carry collective guilt. ext{scapegoating}
Pharmakos: the ritual agent of purification by removal of a harmful element.
First principle: the bedrock value or idea that unifies a community and dictates actions.
Atonement: being made one again with the community; ext{Atonement} = ext{at one knit}
Memetic desire: desires shaped by what others love; conflict arises when there is no shared binding.
Religious animal: claim that humans are inherently religious due to our need to bind and belong.
Global Encounters: Mount program requirement tied to study abroad experiences.