Rene Girard

Suppose some one is in charge, in the tribe, of administering the rain god. But the rain doesn't come. It can't be the fault of the rain god, or the administrators, so someone with little power, maybe a woman who lives at the edge of the village with her animals, and maybe does a little herbalism, she's chosen as the one who has caused the rain to fail--a 'witch'. They seize her, and tell her that if she confesses, she's back in the good graces. She must die, of course. She is killed, and the rain god administrators go back to power. Same thing with Moscow show trials--Stalin and the 5 Year Plan can't be wrong. Israel did this for a long time, but then the scapegoat AROSE! Up from the grave, innocent, resurrected, and we in Him. (Now, of course, this identification with the victim has been turned topsy-turvy, for 'they' use non-innocent victims and we are thus given a more mature challenge). Same thing in Islam today.http://charleshartman.hubpages.com/_1ho53la3jy1qz/hub/Rene-Girard-One-Short-Explanation