J. M. Coetzee: "Kambing hitam bekerja dalam praktik sementara masih me...

"Kambing hitam bekerja dalam praktik sementara masih memiliki kekuatan agama di belakangnya. Anda memuat dosa-dosa kota ke punggung kambing dan mengusirnya, dan kota itu dibersihkan. Itu berhasil karena semua orang tahu cara membaca ritual, termasuk para dewa. Kemudian para dewa mati, dan tiba-tiba Anda harus membersihkan kota tanpa bantuan ilahi. Tindakan nyata dituntut alih-alih simbolisme. Sensor lahir, dalam pengertian Romawi. Kewaspadaan menjadi semboyan: pengawasan dari semuanya. Penyucian digantikan oleh pembersihan."

--- J. M. Coetzee

Versi Bahasa Inggris

Scapegoating worked in practice while it still had religious powers behind it. You loaded the sins of the city on to the goat’s back and drove it out, and the city was cleansed. It worked because everyone knew how to read the ritual, including the gods. Then the gods died, and all of a sudden you had to cleanse the city without divine help. Real actions were demanded instead of symbolism The censor was born, in the Roman sense. Watchfulness became the watchword: the watchfulness of all over all. Purgation was replaced by the purge.