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Entry: Primal Moments Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/primal_moments1#9531 Post contents: Resentment is a cumulative thing. Finding a certifiable bad guy upon whom to vent it is an art form today. You found one. But, structurally, it is still scapegoating, as you see by a certain set of ambiguous feelings after the event. The moral outrage and feeling of righteousness masks awareness of my own sinfulness, and, as you say, awakens the "primitive behavior." Multiplied by street rabble, this becomes what Rene Girard calls, "the primitive Sacred," which, if you happen to be the designated victim, can expel or execute its sense of "righteousness" and go home feeling wonderful: we got the evil one, etc. Your sense of ambituity is the effect of the Gospel at work in western history, giving us moral qualms about victimization that is unknown, or lesser so, in areas of the world less affected by the Gospel. That is good and that is not so good. The West has bent over backward now in victim studies, with everyone playing that card. What we have forgotten is the undeniable need for what the Church calls "legitimate defense" and, I'd add <strong>CHIVALRY</strong> in days in which it will be more and more needed. So, while it is absolutely right to chase the bad guy, we must do so with a certain sadness that we must as we do. If we do so with that primitive urge of self righteousness, we mask our own sinfulness with the momentary feeling -- and that is as wrong as mob scapegoating. Best Sent at: 2008 10 07