Scapegoat

\n \nThe scapegoat apparently was a goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in Judaism. The rite is described in Leviticus 16. \n \nTwo male goats were to be brought to the place of sacrifice along with a bull. The high priest then cast lots for the two goats. One goat was offered as a burnt offering, as was the bull. The second goat was the scapegoat. The high priest placed his hands on the head of the goat and confessed the sins of the people of Israel. The goat was then led away into the wilderness, bearing the sins of the people with it, to be claimed by the fallen angel Azazel.

Scapegoating

Figuratively, a scapegoat is someone selected arbitrarily to bear blame for a calamity. Scapegoating is the act of irrationally holding a person, group of people, or thing responsible for a multitude of problems. Scapegoating is an important tool of propaganda. For example, in Nazi Germany the Jews were singled out as the source of Germany's economic woes and political collapse. Scapegoating is often more devastating when applied to a minority group, as they will by definition be in the minority, and thus find it difficult to defend themselves. A tactic often employed is to characterize an entire group of individuals according to the unethical or immoral conduct of a small number of individuals belonging to the group. Some other common "scapegoated" groups of individuals throughout history have been blacks, immigrants, Communists, Capitalists, "witches", women, white men, the poor, the rich, the Jews, Gays and gypsies. In industrialized societies, scapegoating of traditional minority groups is increasingly frowned upon. In the extreme, this may result in socially enforced rules regarding speech, as in political correctness. Scapegoating may be applied to organizations. For example, corporations or governments are seen by some as responsible for an exaggerated multitude of social problems. Political correctness may be a contributing factor in the development of such beliefs regarding corporations, particularly where a highly developed sense of tolerance towards traditional minority groups clashes with a continued (and some would say unjustified) need to lay blame. Compare: moral panic; hue and cry; witchhunt

External link

\n*'The Scapegoat' (1854), William Holman Hunt