Reconciliation

Alistar Kilgore from Corrymeela spoke with us last week about the cycle of conflict and we’ve been talking about it since. He summarized the work of French cultural anthropologist Rene Girard. He observes that there is a consistent cycle in human history of peace in the community then a conflict emerges that disrupts the peace. It is assumed that the conflict has come from the gods or another external source and has taken up residence in one of the members of the community. The “scape goat” must be identified and then either eliminated (killed ) or exiled from the community. The community then returns to peace and begins the process over again. Alistar pointed out that this cycle still exists and can help explain events in Northern Ireland as well as other parts of the world. From a Christian perspective it would seem that there are several problems. Evil is externalized or objectified. It is not something that all of us are responsible for or possess rather it is one member of the community that is the focus of evil. Also the solution is violence either through death in the form of execution or war or the violence of exile out of the community into isolation.
A uniquely Christian vision would place evil inside each of us in the community not just a scape goat. In other words the problem of evil is even worse than we imagined. Death or exile will not resolve it. We are the problem not the solution, the solution comes from outside of us in the form of God who comes to us and offers himself as the sacrifice. Christ ends the sacrifice cycle and then takes up residence in us to change us or make us into new people. Reconciliation not sacrifice becomes the new model for how to live in community.