"Mythology," literary theorist René Girard writes in The Scapegoat, "is the very best school in the training of silence." Myths, so considered, are stories told to keep concealed some truth; a myth can act as a dark blanket, wrapping up and hiding truth in its folds.
The myth gives us a sense of security, a sense of stability: in the early 1980's, the myth of GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) helped to make the burgeoning AIDS crisis a "gay issue" when, as we know all too well, it affected heterosexual and homosexual populations. In 2008, we saw the devastating result of the myth of the self-regulating market: misplaced confidence in the ability of the economy to achieve natural homeostasis blinded us to the catastrophic erosion of the market, leading to financial crisis.
Indeed, it seems that a certain mythology around the sexual abuse of the vulnerable has coalesced within the last thirty years. The "pedophile priest" has become a stock image, the butt of jokes and innuendo. While we all know clergy are not alone in having abusers in their midsts - doctors, lawyers, troop leaders, teachers, daycare workers all have been convicted - it remains remarkably easy to think of sexual abuse as a "Catholic" problem rather than seeing it as an enormously pernicious cultural problem.
Thus it is with great interest I have been following the unfolding narrative of abuse within the United States Military. The parallel to the sexual abuse crisis that has plagued the Catholic Church is uncanny: a culture of secrecy, the exploitation of power, a willingness to turn a "blind eye" to the indiscretions of a fellow soldier in the name of "brotherhood," greater concern for the institution's reputation than for the protection of an individual. A vow of silence binding involved parties together, a silence suffocating the voices of victims and perpetuating a culture of abuse.
As a society, we do ourselves a grave injustice if we allow ourselves to be seduced by the myth of sexual abuse as a problem of some other population. It is a deep and abiding cultural problem, a deeply troubling human problem, and until we begin to look hard at our culture, we will be continue to be enchanted by myths assuring us that it's a problem others have to face, but not us.
The myth gives us a sense of security, a sense of stability: in the early 1980's, the myth of GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) helped to make the burgeoning AIDS crisis a "gay issue" when, as we know all too well, it affected heterosexual and homosexual populations. In 2008, we saw the devastating result of the myth of the self-regulating market: misplaced confidence in the ability of the economy to achieve natural homeostasis blinded us to the catastrophic erosion of the market, leading to financial crisis.
Indeed, it seems that a certain mythology around the sexual abuse of the vulnerable has coalesced within the last thirty years. The "pedophile priest" has become a stock image, the butt of jokes and innuendo. While we all know clergy are not alone in having abusers in their midsts - doctors, lawyers, troop leaders, teachers, daycare workers all have been convicted - it remains remarkably easy to think of sexual abuse as a "Catholic" problem rather than seeing it as an enormously pernicious cultural problem.
Thus it is with great interest I have been following the unfolding narrative of abuse within the United States Military. The parallel to the sexual abuse crisis that has plagued the Catholic Church is uncanny: a culture of secrecy, the exploitation of power, a willingness to turn a "blind eye" to the indiscretions of a fellow soldier in the name of "brotherhood," greater concern for the institution's reputation than for the protection of an individual. A vow of silence binding involved parties together, a silence suffocating the voices of victims and perpetuating a culture of abuse.
As a society, we do ourselves a grave injustice if we allow ourselves to be seduced by the myth of sexual abuse as a problem of some other population. It is a deep and abiding cultural problem, a deeply troubling human problem, and until we begin to look hard at our culture, we will be continue to be enchanted by myths assuring us that it's a problem others have to face, but not us.
- Myths acknowledge some sort of communal or cultural disturbance
- There is an individual or group culpable for this disturbance
- The culpable part is distinctive - something sets them apart from everyone else
- The culprit behind the disorder needs to be expelled
- Peace is restored to the community after the expulsion of the guilty party
If you've ever watched a group of children at play, particularly if they gang up against one of their own members, you can see this dynamic function. A kickball team is losing because of the fat kid so the team gangs up on him, expels him from the group, and finds a renewed esprit de corps, a revitalized morale, as a team. The team's identity is galvanized by expelling its vulnerable member, they become a team in the act of expelling a member from the team.
1 comment:
Father, you have some good insights there. Thank you.
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