Scapegoats-Who Knew?

I chose to write my paper and do my individual presentation on scapegoats because the topic was not only an important part of the past, but it is hugely obvious in the present. However, even as prevalent as scapegoating is in our culture today, I was still surprised by the response to the topic. Maybe it was just the fact that two consecutive presentations dealt with scapegoats (mine and then Brian's, which I found extremely amusing-loved the Ace Ventura bit), but maybe it was the fact that almost everyone can relate to scapegoating. At some point or another, we have all probably been on both sides of the scapegoating mechanism. This thought was only reinforced after browsing through the recent bloggings of my classmates. Several people had been inspired to write about scapegoats: Cassi and Danielle had stories about being the scapegoat, Ross wrote about Jesus as a scapegoat, Alison brought up the idea of metaphorical scapegoats, and Jann discussed many modern scapegoats, including guns. I am in awe of how interested we as humans are in the act of scapegoating. It seems to be a trait that has and always will be a part of what makes us human. The desire to scapegoat seems to cross all of the usual barriers; sex, ethnicity, age, religion, etc. Why is it that the one thing that we have used to unite us since the beginning of time involves the destroying of another? Does this prove that people are all inherently bad instead of inherently good? Or, does it simply prove that we are too lazy or lack the knowledge to find the true answer to the problem? Honestly, I don't know, but it is certainly something to ponder.