Ep. 15 David Gornoski on Biblical Mercy, Scapegoats, and the State as Vehicle of Human Sacrifice
David Gornoski is the creator of “A Neighbor’s Choice,” a media platform that tells the stories of victims of State violence and which provides healthy alternatives to a violence-based society. David hosts the Orlando-based “A Neighbor’s Choice” radio program on WFLA 93.1 FM and 540 AM. Much of his work is an application of René Girard’s mimetic theory.
Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:
- David Gornoski’s YouTube channel.
- David Gornoski’s website.
- The Mises Institute event in Orlando on Feb. 16, 2019 (featuring both Gornoski and Murphy).
- A recent episode of David’s radio program, “A Neighbor’s Choice.”
- The direct link to David’s radio program, which (starting in mid-February 2019) will run Mon-Thurs 8-9pm Eastern.
- An introduction to mimetic theory from Girard himself.
- The book I See Satan Fall Like Lightning.
The sound engineer for this episode was Chris Williams. Learn more about his work at ChrisWilliamsAudio.com.
About the author, Robert
Christian and economist, Chief Economist at infineo, and Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute.
This is great! You guys should check out Star Of Redemption by Franz Rosenzweig and the many essays discussing it written by David Goldman under the pseudonym Spengler at Asia Times Online. Lots of good stuff comparing modern nationalism to pagan tribal self-idolatry, plus Goldman is an economist too boot. He’s no Austrian, but he’s no fool. He’s a Diet-Caffeine-Free-Neocon suffering from Reaganitis, but he is worth your time.
I would love to hear another 5 episodes with you and David.
I second that
awesome podcast
This was easily the best episode of your entire podcast. You have to get David back, it was amazing.
Interesting, but I think the cathartic sacrificial aspect of individuals being thrown under the bus for the supposed good of the people is not actually the main point of having the state try to help improve situations by coercion for most people in most situations. For the naive common folk it comes more from the christian perspective of let’s make “the last shall be the first” a reality, let’s try as a community to help poor and disadvantaged people and if a few rich individuals can’t afford their fat meals for a day then so be it. In a sense they want for the State to act in the same way God acts in the Bible, judging people by their deeds and distributing punishment and rewards accordingly.
Sure, there are some cases where the point is the catharsis that comes from the government punishing some kind of enemy, but those are less common than the good intentioned scenarios where violence is not the point but the means to an end.
Wow! Great thoughtful episode. David explained so much about our need to find scapegoats and how human this is. Wonderful reminder to be a peaceful loving presence when others are enraged. So hard to do even at my advanced age. Looking forward to seeing you in Orlando on Sat.
[…] Bob’s discussion with David Gornoski relating to God demanding mercy, not sacrifice. […]
Some patterns of scapegoating are built into the “criminal justice system”…….But I’ll have to listen later….