The Phenomenology of Prayer 2

Another section in The Phenomenology of Prayer compares the difference between society's concept of sacrifice to the Christian faith. Naturally, humans compare themselves to others which leads them into "mimetic violence" where humans "imitate the other to the point of desiring what the other desires." To combat mimetic violence people used victims as "scapegoats" who carried away their guilt and sins. I found it interesting to see that in the Christian faith it was completely opposite. Instead, the most innocent person was for their sacrifice. I think this has a greater impact on the Christians since Christ, who has never sinned, took on every wrongdoing of His followers. If it were someone who was already guilty then it wouldn't have as much impact since they most likely deserved to be sacrificed. Evidence from society proves that this way doesn't work and will be repeated. Christ's sacrifice brought out more good in society in which followers wanted to relieve others of harm done to them. Again, the act of emptying oneself, kenosis, plays a key role in combatting mimetic violence.

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