Jesus reproaches the Pharisees for an older version of the same ploy when he sees them build tombs for the prophets their fathers killed. The spectacular demonstrations of piety toward the victims of our predecessors frequently conceal a wish to justify ourselves at their expense. If we had lived in the time of our fathers, the Pharisees say, we would not have joined them in spilling the blood of the prophets. The children repeat the crimes of their fathers precisely because they believe they are morally superior
to them. This false difference is already the mimetic illusion of modern individualism, which represents the greatest resistance to the mimetic truth that is reenacted again and again in human relations. The paradox is that the resistance itself brings about the reenactment.
2 Quotes Tagged: mimesis
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