scapegoats are no longer contextual

Monday August 29th, Leviticus 16: 7 Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8 He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat. 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. We still have scapegoats. Just look at the way Cindy Sheehan has been demonized by the religious right for pointing out that killing people and destroying their homes doesn’t make them like or respect us more. A scapegoat takes our sin out there somewhere away from us. It was God’s way of showing the people that through God their sin was removed from them. It worked then. Now it is just used to cover up our own sins by pointing to someone or something else. Now there is something else in place, honesty before God. Try it, you might just feel forgiven.