Reflection: René Girard - Paris as Prophecy

René Girard - screen shot

The late French anthropologist René Girard's criticism of the civilization rings true with new urgency, writes Matthew Becklo in Aleteia.

"History, you might say, is a test for mankind. But we know very well that mankind is failing that test."

After the worst attacks to hit France since World War II, this prophetic warning from the late French anthropologist René Girard leaps off the page with new urgency. For many, the attacks in Paris were a wake-up call about information security, the refugee crisis, Islam or religion in general. But this wizened professor would've understood Paris as a very different kind of wake-up call, one about a universal phenomenon at the heart of all human society.

It seems impossible not to turn to Girard after what happened. Born in Avignon and educated in Paris, Girard wrote his doctoral thesis on "American Opinion of France" and went on to teach French language and literature at Stanford. He then rose to prominence in the '70s with a sweeping cross-disciplinary theory about the origins of religion and violence. In his later years he applied his theory to the pressurized, apocalyptic tenor of Islamic terrorism. If that wasn't enough, Girard passed away just nine days before the attacks in his home country and was buried in his final resting place the day after.

To read on see: http://aleteia.org/2015/11/20/paris-and-the-scapegoat/

There are more articles and a filmed interview with René Girard on the Stanford University blog here: http://bookhaven.stanford.edu/tag/rene-girard/