I got this quote and article about scapegoating sent to me "by way of Letecia Layson" from the InspirationTransformation newsletter in December. I keep stumbling upon it in 2004 ~ so maybe that 'means' something. Scapegoating is a base level of a westernized mythos I've explored personally and transpersonally in my lifetime. And the idea of always changing, moving and seeing all the angles of our Dances... is very UP for me in this new changing year.

Quote for the week:

"The good news is that there is something else.
The bad news is we haven't evolved enough to fully realize it.
Fortunately, that evolution is possible and is happening right now.
May we open our minds to greater experience, wisdom and connection.
May we look inward, seeking the spirit of which we are made.
May we all realize the beauty, the goodness, and the truth which is
our very nature.

Go in peace, make peace, be at peace."

Ken Wilber

And then it's followed by this treatise about the Great Scapegoat:

Scapegoating--An Insidious Family Pattern of Blame and Shame on One Family Member

Lynne Namka, Ed. D.

Scapegoating is a serious family dysfunctional problem with one member of the family or a social group being blamed for small things,picked on and constantly put down. In scapegoating, one of the authority figures has made a decision that somebody in the family has to be the bad guy. The mother or father makes one child bad and then looks for things (sometimes real, but most often imagined) that are
wrong.

There are different reasons one child is singled out to be
scapegoated. Perhaps the child is vulnerable. Or the child is hyperactive, noncompliant or acts out. Sometimes the scapegoated child is viewed as weak who cannot defend himself. At times the parent heaps on the blame because he cannot stand the child who has traits and characteristics that are similar to the his own! Sometimes the child has personality traits that are similar to a disliked relative (She reminds me of my aunt Tillie who I never liked.) Other children in the family can pick up the scapegoating pattern and join in taunting and hurting the scapegoated child. In extremely dysfunctional families, the parent may goad the other children to pick
on the disfavored one.
....
[ Feminism/ Cultural Dialogues | 2004-01-19 18:27 | 3 comments | PermaLink ]  More >

I love how Tecia puts this: "Jane's speech is circulating the net this week. When it hit my inbox, it seemed to thread through the other conversations I have been sharing with many, many women both on the net and in my communities. Feminism after 30 years has deepened with compassion, without losing the passion for Life - All Life."

And so here's a clip of it that I, too, deeply resonated with:

"Because we can't just talk about women being at the table - it's too late for that - we have to think in terms of the shape of the table. Is it hierarchical or circular (metaphorically speaking)? We have to think about the quality of the men who are with us at the table, the culture that is hovering over the table that governs how things are decided and in whose interests. This is not just about glass ceilings or politics as usual. This is about revolution, and I have finally gotten to where I can say that word and know what I mean by it and feel good about it because I see, now, how the future of the earth and everything on it including men and boys depends on this happening.
...
[ Feminism/ Cultural Dialogues | 2003-11-19 11:40 | 6 comments | PermaLink ]  More >

From the Pittsburgh Gazette - interest

You live next door to a clean-cut, quiet guy. He never plays loud music or throws raucous parties. He doesn't gossip over the fence, just smiles politely and offers you some tomatoes. His lawn is cared-for, his house is neat as a pin and you get the feeling he doesn't always lock his front door. He wears Dockers. You hardly know he's there.

And then one day you discover that he has pot in his basement, spends his weekends at peace marches and that guy you've seen mowing the yard is his spouse.

Allow me to introduce Canada.

The Canadians are so quiet that you may have forgotten they're up there, but they've been busy doing some surprising things. It's like discovering that the mice you are dimly aware of in your attic have been building an espresso machine.

Did you realize, for example, that our reliable little tag-along brother never joined the Coalition of the Willing? Canada wasn't willing, as it turns out, to join the fun in Iraq. I can only assume American diner menus weren't angrily changed to include "freedom bacon," because nobody here eats the stuff anyway.
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[ Feminism/ Cultural Dialogues | 2003-09-16 14:02 | 6 comments | PermaLink ]  More >