08/31/2021
PDSC Weekly Message
Pueblo Divine Science Center
August 29, 2021
"Who's to Blame?"
How many of us that been a party to children’s
“I didn’t do it, she did!” or “I never touched it,
he did!” or “They were the ones! Not us!”
Denial of participation carries on into adulthood,
dealing with minor issues as well as major
ones, as we all know. Who is to blame is simple
when the issue is knocking a bowl of cereal
off the counter or leaving the garage door
unlocked, but as the offences become more
destructive, the consequences will be more
detrimental—life changing even.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament,
we find among the “shalt nots”, otherwise
known as the Ten Commandants, the list of
which includes NOT committing murder,
adultery, theft, bearing false witness, or
coveting. Today, we are going to spend a
little time focusing on “Bearing false witness”.
This is an archaic phrase. Today, used
mostly in the swearing-in stage of court
proceedings, but it means lying.
The Hebrew Scriptures also contain a
very interesting revitalizing ritual.
In Leviticus, Chapter 16, we find The
Lord giving instructions by which
Aaron may be absolved of the guilt
of his sons’ who offered illicit fire
before the Lord, so that he Aaron,
may return to his place in society.
The cleansing rites include two goats:
one for bearing the sins of Aaron
into the desert, the other for the
feast of renewal and release.
In ancient Israel, the sins of the
tribes were ceremonially loaded onto
the head of a scapegoat who represented
the god Az**el, “The Messenger of the
Lord.” Who took their sins away on
each Day of Atonement, an annual
religious observance . . . . The Horned
God Az**el was actually a divine
redeemer who took human sins upon
himself and atoned for them by his exile
and/or death.”[i]
We may find this ancient ritual a bit
amusing, if we give it any thought at all;
however, the first stages of this traditional
practice are very much in use today in
multiple circumstances: in personal families,
in groups of friends, in classrooms, in
business cohorts, in social organizations,
and in church communities. Synonyms
for scapegoat are: stooge, victim, culprit,
or fall guy. Human beings enact the
ancient ritual of Az**el when they instinctively
select an individual or group upon which
to lay the blame for issues and circumstances
that they are concerned with or distressed by.
A global example is: the placing of
blame in regard to the current mask issue.
Another is attitudes and behavior toward
an individual in authority with whom
one disagrees or is jealous of. Sylvia Brinton
Perera, in her text The Scapegoat Complex,
defines the term scapegoat, which is
“applied to individuals and groups who
are accused of causing misfortune.
Scapegoating means finding those who
can be identified with evil, blamed for it,
and cast out from the family or community
in order to leave the other members with a
feeling of guiltlessness.”[ii] The explanation
of scapegoating is applicable to multiple
circumstances, we find bombarding us in the
daily news.
Kenneth Burke suggests; “The society
from which we choose our roles is not a
neutral arena but a pyramid of status, and
the narratives with which we frame our
lives reveal to us our own eventual demise.
The result is anxiety, widespread and deep,
and a search for scapegoats. (Someone
else to Blame!) . . To shore up our sagging
self-esteem, we seek someone to blame—
for our moral corruption, our social inadequacy,
our sense that life is slipping, inexorably, away.
In his book, The Scapegoat Generation
(1996), Mike A. Males addresses “America’s
War on Adolescents, in which he reveals the
scapegoated children, blamed for all the
problems in dysfunctional households.[iii]
Scapegoats bear the burden of recovering
from a childhood full of bullying, put-downs,
unequal treatment, and abuse generally.
They are deprived of the experience of
growing up in a safe, stable home where
they had the unconditional love of parents
or caregivers. (June 11, 2021)
“When individuals identify with the
scapegoat—that is taking on personal
responsibility for the rejected shadow
qualities of others—they play out their
identification in self-rejection and in
behavior motivated by, or covering, a
deep-seated sense of guilt and shame.”
(Perera)
Consideration of the scapegoating
projection is beneficial to us today because
of the painful conditions in our society,
which our technology bombards us with
daily. Who? What’s to blame? Wear masks.
Don’t wear masks. Get shots. Don’t get shots.
Blame the “other” whoever that maybe to
each of us, individually. Blame one or several
of our leaders. Blame opposition groups.
Blame our neighbors, our cousins, anybody,
everybody. Blame God!
The Hebrew’s Az**el is not the only
recorded god to perform the scapegoat
function for its community. In Bronze Age
Mesopotamia, the Goddess Inanna, an
archetype of Feminine Self-Discovery and
Transformation, sacrifices herself annually
by hanging herself on her sister Ereshkigal,
Queen of the Underworlds’ Hook, so that
Ereshkigal would assure prosperity in
Inanna’s kingdom.
The Greek God Dionysus sacrificed
himself for humanity; multiple scholars
discuss the undeniable parallels between
Dionysus and the Christ. Jesus, the Christ,
also performed a rescue of humanity. In
Galatians 1:4, we find, “The Lord Jesus is the
One “who gave Himself for our sins so that
He might rescue us from this present evil
age, as our God and Father wills it.”
In the 21st century, we have the tools
for self-rescue if we will but relax and apply
them. In exhaustion and despair, if we will
but pull out the little card that can be found
lying around this building that reminds us:
“If you think it, If you affirm it, If you believe
it, You will experience it!” and then focus
on the Divine Science Principle.
Or open your last PDSC bulletin and focus
on the DIVINE SCIENCE STATEMENT OF BEING:
God is all, both invisible and visible.
One Presence, One Mind, One Power is all.
This One that is all is perfect life,
perfect love, and perfect substance.
I am an individualized expression of God,
we all are individualized expressions of
Divine Mind, and ever one with this Perfect Life,
Perfect Love, and Perfect Substance.
Particularly the lines “I am an individual
expression of God, and ever one with this
perfect life, perfect love, and perfect substance.”
is our Divine Mantle.
As we emerge from the fog of anger
and fear, we open ourselves to demonstrating
the state of mind exemplified by the
“Statement of Being”. Nona Brooks says that
tribulation and pain are actually opportunities,
which invite or drive us to implement the
principles of New Thought. Here is her recipe:
Be certain that the idea—there is One and
only One in all the universe—is clear to you,
whatever form in language the thought may take.
“All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
whose body nature is, and God the soul.”
Hence, we live in a Universe of God-
Substance and God-Thought. To one who
sees this, there comes the fulfillment of the
prophecy of a new heaven and a new earth.
Divine Science did not accept lightly its
doctrine of Omnipresence; and the years
of teaching and demonstrating this Principle
have proved its certainty.
Here are some of the reasons that can
lead one to accept Omnipresence as Truth:
The great spiritual seers of every age have
believed it;
The Bible gives the same thought in many
different ways;
Poets have sung it;
Philosophers have used it as the basis of
their philosophical systems;
Nature in her infinite variety of expressions
proves Omnipresent Intelligence and Activity; and
Jesus teaches it at every point.
It is interesting that even the natural
scientists have discovered the same truth,
and while some of them might reject the
thought, when given in terms other than
their own, nevertheless, they are expressing
the same idea very definitely. They affirm
one substance in place of the many once
proclaimed; they find one intelligence working
everywhere, with one purpose, to one end.
Therefore, unity has become a principle of
natural science. Currently, call quantum mechanics.
Again, the concept of Omnipresence is
satisfying to the one who goes back of
externals, and grasps the reality of things.
It gives a principle of interpretation. It opens
up new fields of research. It is a continuous
delight mentally and spiritually.
When we accept Omnipresence as a working
hypothesis; that is, when we assume
Omnipresence to be Truth, we find that our
principle works. It is applicable to all of our
experiences and problems. We find healing,
happiness, power, and success for ourselves
and others, through the application of the
Truth, that is, through the practice of the
Presence of God.
The highest reason for the acceptance of
Omnipresence is that when we have truly
laid hold of the God-Consciousness, we know that the One Presence is All.
Or, if we cannot do this honestly, let us
assume it as a working basis, in order that
we may have the opportunity of proving for
ourselves its Truth. When we accept fully
this principle, it gets easier and we get quicker
results. We, who assume this hypothesis,
shall in time, discover it works for ourselves.
We shall grow and shall ultimately be assured.
Here are some suggestions for Daily Practice:
Think on the great Truth of Omnipresence i
n some such way as this—
Omnipresence is Truth.
This means that:
God includes me now.
God-Love is caring for me now.
God-Wisdom is guiding me now.
God-Abundance is supplying my present need.
I can trust this Power and not fear.
I am thankful for the Truth that makes me free.
These affirmations may be applied to others
whom we wish to help.
…As we live faithfully by these truths,
we will find ourselves unfolding into the
realization of Power. Habitually,
returning to statements such as these
can rescue us from applications, the
indignations of the Blame Game.
- Betsy Morgan
[i] Walker, Barbara G., The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols & Scared Objects, 1988.
[ii] Perera, Sylvia Brinton,The Scapegoat Complex, 1986.
[iii] Very Well Mind, Nittle, Nadra, “What Does It Mean To Be the Family Scapegoat?, 2021.
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Pueblo Divine Science Center
