Why Me?
Humans are remarkably good at finding a religious scapegoat for their problems. There
has always been someone to blame for the difficulties we face in life, such as war,
famine, and more relevant, disease. Hitler blames the Jews for economical woes in a
corrupt Germany long after the Romans held the Christians responsible for everything
wrong in a crumbling, has-been empire. In the fourteenth century, when Plague struck
Europe, it was blamed on "...unfavorable astrological combinations or malignant
atmospheres..." (handout p2), and even "...deliberate combination by witches, Moslems (an
idea proposed by Christians), Christians (proposed by Moslems) and Jews (proposed by both
groups)." (H p2) The point is, someone was to blame even when the obvious reasons, flea
ridden rats, were laying dead on the streets. As time progressed to the twentieth
century, there have been few if any exceptions made to this phenomena. In the case of
Oran, the people raced to find a culprit for the sudden invasion of their town, which
bec
ame the unrepentant man. This is one of Camus' major themes; The way a society deals with
an epidemic is to blame it one someone else. Twenty years ago, when AIDS emerged in the
US, homosexual men became the target of harsh and flagrant discrimination, and even today
are still held accountable by some beliefs. While we may no longer lynch in the nineties,
we do accuse innocent groups, like the gay male population, for the birth and explosion
of AIDS in our society. Given, there are some differences between each respective
situation, but there are striking similarities that cannot be ignored.
As the Plague invaded the town of Oran, the people quarantined within its walls began to
look to their leaders for answers. Most likely these people had trouble believing that
such an awful thing was happening to them, and needed someone to point the finger at. In
the meantime, Father Paneloux was preparing a speech to answer the questions and fears
that surrounded him, and probably vexed him as well. The truth is, his speech was as much
therapeutic as it was didactic, and in winning the opinion of the public he could calm
his own fears. " If today the plague is in your midst, that is because the hour has
struck for taking thought. The just man need have no fear, but the evildoer has good
cause to tremble." (p95) Paneloux is passing the blame, but in a very intriguing way.
"You believed some brief formalities, some bendings of the knee, would recompense Him
well enough for you criminal indifference. But God is not mocked." (p97) He has found the
blame, the weak observer of Christ, but in the end, especially i
n a heavily religious town like Oran, believes they are that person? Who in the city,
after reflecting upon their record of attendance at church, could find it possible to
blame themselves? In his sermon, Paneloux did not point out a specific group as the cause
such as the lower class, but associated the plague with a general group that is
fundamentally vague. It is an interesting way of passing the blame, in such a manner that
puts no certain group in danger. The fact is that taking into consideration the
townspeople's manic state of paranoia, to accuse one particular group would be murder. If
Paneloux told the masses that the street cleaners brought the Plague, each and every one
of them would be strung up on the closest available tree. It seems that Oran provided
the blueprints for the AIDS epidemic, relative to how even today, parts of our society
still blame who we feel is a lesser group for the disease.
In the late seventies, AIDS began its invasion of the US population. For years it
confined itself to the gay community, but as the new decade arrived it was spreading much
more effectively, as heterosexuals, dirty needles, and infected blood transfusions became
efficient avenues for the virus to change hosts. However, at this time the public was
hardly educated about AIDS. They knew little if anything about how it was spread. In
fact, all they really knew was that the disease is one hundred percent fatal, contagious,
and carried mostly by gay males. Interestingly enough, until the AIDS virus broke into
the heterosexual community, in general no one really bothered themselves with it. This
may be because so little was known about it, even in medical circles, but there is a
definite connection to a "hear no evil, speak no evil" attitude. The virus was not
affecting the straight community, so why bother? However, when people in the workplace,
friends and family began to get sick, panic struck swiftly. Someone wa
s to blame, and many found specific groups, like homosexuals, junkies and prostitutes
excellent focal points for a certain frustration that comes from a state of helplessness.
These three groups, representing the gutter of society, were an easy target because the
had no leverage in society. The general public needed a scapegoat, and they had found it.
Gays were the foremost to be blamed, mostly because sodomy is defined In the bible as a
grievous sin, following the story of Sodom. People called the disease "God's revenge",
His way to erase an abomination of his creation. Again, this case is remarkably similar
to Oran, because while Father Paneloux blamed it on a much more general group, it was
still a group that angered God, and brought forth his wrath. Even industry supported this
absurd theory, as an infamous T-shirt, using the RAID bug spray logo, read instead,
"AIDS, kills fags dead.", as opposed to "RAID, kills bugs dead." In short, society had
found its scapegoat, and would not let it go. Even today, af
ter all we've learned about the disease, all we've found to be true and untrue, gays are
still blamed by some for bringing AIDS into society, just as the unrepentant man was
blamed for bringing the Plague into Oran.
When an epidemic like AIDS or the Plague attacks a city, state or country, society deals
with it by finding someone to blame it on. People stab in the dark for the reason
problems like AIDS befall them, and religion often dictates who they will blame. It is a
never ending tennis match, where the ball is the blame being bounced back and fourth,
while little or no effort is made to remedy the situation. The Japanese have a saying,
which translates, "when an archer misses a target, he can only blame himself, and not the
target." This is a great expression, and makes a lot of sense. However, it is rarely
followed in our society, especially when an epidemic strikes. While we should be finding
ways to cure it, prevent it, learn about it, and come to terms with it, all we seem
capable of doing is finding someone to blame for it.
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