[aron]

The other thing about shaming and scapegoating in the LCs. It also periodically led to the "rebellions" and "storms" and "turmoils" that have plagued the movement. Because if you shame and shame and shame, eventually someone is going to say, Wait a minute here. And then the shame-based system has its "rebellion" mechanism activated.

I am saying that shaming and scapegoating have an individual and a collective manifestation, and the storms and turmoils we saw were the collective manifestations.

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" (NIV) War without comes from war within, which we impose on the system. Lee built a system which was subject to his every whim (i.e. the unsatisfied war within), which whims (e.g. "leadings") each of us received as the individual-level internalization, cognitive dissonance and all. And the "rebellions" which arose when some of the underlings couldn't take it any more -- those were the collective external representations.

I'm perhaps not accurately representing M. Girard; my usual m.o. is to read something on a superficial level, then pontificate on it, superficially, years later, as if I got it, and it were now part and parcel of my operating instructions. But occasionally I do get lucky and sound intelligent. Anyway, I did read Girard years ago and loved it; thought it very impressive. It was both original, and carefully thought out; both aspects indicating the work of the Holy Spirit.