It would be amusing if it wasn\u2019t so chilling. \u00a0Looking at old movies at the thrift store, I smirk at our former fear-mongering. \u00a0It seems so quaint, so naive, from such a bygone era. \u00a0And it makes me think about the present-day fear-mongering that I probably don\u2019t even notice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRemember Red Dawn, when it seemed so plausible that Russians would invade the US? \u00a0Thirty years later, the remake of the same film depicts nefarious North Koreans doing the deed\u2013 a new boogeyman for a new generation. \u00a0The recent \u201cOlympus has Fallen\u201d is a half-baked action thriller that imagines a North-Korean takeover of the White House \u00a0(never mind that the lead actor is himself a foreigner, only from a more trustworthy country). \u00a0Remember \u2018Die Hard\u2019, where Bruce Willis took on Eastern European terrorists on US soil? \u00a0Remember when Charlie Sheen was a hero Navy Seal, traveling with his team to Syria and Lebanon to stop the bad guys there? \u00a0Remember when Rambo fought *with* the Afghan Mujahideen? \u00a0My how times have changed!<\/p>\n
It taps into something deep within us, this need to draw boundaries, stoke fires of fear, and generally cast a suspicious eye on anyone who isn\u2019t \u2018us\u2019 . \u00a0We hear it all of the time: \u00a0Muslims are trying to damage the fabric of our society, the Chinese are taking over our financial system, and Mexicans are stealing our jobs (when I was a kid the narrative was that Mexicans were \u2018too lazy\u2019) and we need a fence to keep them out. \u00a0There\u2019s always a \u2018they\u2019, and there\u2019s always an \u2018our\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe late philosopher and sociologist Rene Girard\u2013 who just left us last year\u2013 called this mimetic desire<\/i>. \u00a0That humans are characterized by desire, and so are essentially opposed to one another. \u00a0So much so that the central task of bringing humans together into groups and societies is the need to alienate and scapegoat some \u2018Other\u2019 to be the recipient of our collective anger, to justify our pursuit of our desire. \u00a0We don\u2019t just have<\/em> villains and enemies\u2013 we create<\/em> villains and enemies, in order to define ourselves and to project our worst character attributes on others. \u00a0All so that we can get what we want. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n(And yes, Christian\u00a0theologians have taken note of Girard\u2019s work, pointing out that the clearest example of this mimetic impulse happened when we were so threatened and fearful of the best and least sinful person in history that we had him put to death\u2026 literally a scapegoat for our sins. \u00a0)<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s an idea as old as human history, and as fresh as today\u2019s headlines. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe see it all the time when many, many folks in the US speak boldly about their fears of the corrupting influence of immigrants. \u00a0These US citizens are good people, smart people, kind people, Christian people\u2013 they are only trying to be faithful to their families and their nation. \u00a0And yet they stoke fears that immigrants might do violence to us, might change our way of life, might overthrow us and establish some kind of occupation. \u00a0When all along, the reality we don\u2019t want to see is that this exact thing has happened, on a horrific scale\u2026 when those trying to escape religious persecution in Europe eventually enacted a program of mass genocide against the people who were previously living in this land<\/i>. \u00a0\u00a0We<\/i> overthrew the societies who dwelled here, we<\/i> fought battles and engaged in germ warfare, \u00a0we<\/i> established an occupation. \u00a0Our nation-state is built on theft and violence and murder and deception, so of course<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0we are paranoid that this could happen here\u2026 because it already did! \u00a0Though at the same time we tend to forget that it happened in the first place. We suppress the truth about ourselves, then project it on our most recent Other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSpoiler alert!<\/strong>: \u00a0in a recent The Walking Dead<\/strong>\u00a0graphic novel, there is an epic conversation between our protagonist Rick Grimes and the most nefarious bad guy ever, Negan. \u00a0Negan is in fact a prisoner of Rick, captured long before and held in a jail to serve a lifetime sentence. \u00a0But Rick has recently found what might be an even more evil and formidable enemy, so with hat in hand he consults with Negan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFeeling the gravity (and in a rare display of empathy) Negan asks a brilliant and illuminating question: \u00a0\u201cAre they you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nSuggesting, I think, that the fastest track to leadership is having a loyal constituency. \u00a0And the quickest way to get there is to foment some fear, conveniently located in a clearly defined Other. \u00a0Leaders need enemies \u00a0(ergo<\/em> societies need armies, and ergo<\/em> armies need wars).<\/span><\/p>\nNegan confesses that he\u2019s actually jealous<\/i> of Rick. \u00a0If Negan had had such a formidable foe, he\u2019d probably still be in power.\u00a0 It\u2019s an astounding expression of this mimetic desire, as big as the Bible and human history. \u00a0We define ourselves by alienating others. \u00a0We come together by separating ourselves, or more commonly by separating others\u2013 with or without their consent.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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It would be amusing if it wasn\u2019t so chilling. \u00a0Looking at old movies at the thrift store, I smirk at our former fear-mongering. \u00a0It seems so quaint, so naive, from such a bygone era. \u00a0And it makes me think about the present-day fear-mongering that I probably don\u2019t even notice.\u00a0 Remember Red Dawn, when it seemed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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