Joseph Lucas is a former Somerset County Park Commission Construction Manager. On November 16, he was convicted on a charge of official misconduct. Is Lucas taking the fall for a few elected and appointed officials, as well as for certain park employees who may have been part of the same corrupt system?
In ancient Judaism, there existed a ceremony attached to celebrating the Day of Atonement. There is a very old Jewish tradition in which the community came together at the Jerusalem Temple to offer sacrifice intended to make amends for sin. As part of this solemn ceremony, the high priest laid his hands on a goat and confessed the sins of all Israel over it. The goat, now burdened with community transgressions, was led into the wilderness, never to return. This represented transference of guilt and sin – a cleansing of conscience.
The paragraph you have just read is a synopsis of how the word ‘scapegoat’ evolved into modern English to mean, “One that is made to bear the blame of others.”
So I ask again: Is Joseph Lucas a scapegoat?
Note: The religious definition – the etymological basis for the modern meaning of the word, ‘scapegoat’ – is described in all good dictionaries and encyclopedias.
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