I See Satan Fall Like Lightning
The title echoes Jesus' words: "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven." Girard persuades us that even as our world grows increasingly violent the power of the Christ-event is so great that the evils of scapegoating and sacrifice are being defeated even now. A new community, God's nonviolent kingdom, is being realized - even now.
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- If someone wants to dig deeper into the scapegoat principle/process I recommend picking up René Girard's I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, I stopped halfway though it a few years ago and intend to resume it sometime. Also I expected to see the book itself as reference in the blog post and was surprised when I checked the references section.
- Girard is pretty famous and was well known at Stanford when he was there. He is a major thinker and deserving of individual attention rather than being pulled into partisan political debates. Even Peter Thiel, who attended a seminar taught by Girard at Stanford, has a fairly good understanding of Girard's views, one that is not amenable to cliches.
If you are interested in learning about Girard, start with "I See Satan Fall Like Lightning".
- Some recent ones I've really enjoyed: The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind - Julian Jaynes; And: Phenomenology of the End - Franco Berardi; The True Believer - Eric Hoffer; I See Satan Fall Like Lightning - Rene Girard; Surplus Enjoyment - Slavoy Zizek; Dionysus, Christ, and the Death of God - Giuseppe Fornari
Phenomenology of the End in particular blew my mind.
- > Humans are high-fidelity imitators.
This is true in a very deep sense, and this human desire (let's even call it compulsion) to imitate others can be used to base an entire anthropology on, as René Girard did quite masterfully. For anyone interested, I strongly recommend reading "I See Satan Fall Like Lightning".
- René Girard actually _is_ a must-read. No need to go through everything he has written -- though his works are a great gateway to our (Western) culture as they draw on everything from ancient mythologies (notably greek) to modern philosophy, with a focus on the sources on the Christian religion. Start with "I See Satan Fall Like Lightning", a very straightforward, almost romanesque read, and if interested, read "Violence and Religion" and "Things Hidden Since The Foundation Of The World". A great way to dive into Humanities.
- I See Satan Fall Like Lightning is another good Girard intro point, and 2/5ths of the length of Things Hidden. It was written 22 years later, and reflects the evolution of Girard's thinking in that time.
