Religions sublimate violence. They redirect it towards an official scapegoat. Religions that do not fulfil such an end are bad in their kind. An example would be religions that push followers to kill indistinctly and make the most possible damage. In that sense, Christianism is the ultimate religion, according to Girard. For the first time, a religion revealed the truth on the scapegoat:

The scapegoat is innocent!

There were announcements in the Old Testament. Job suffered great injustices. But instead of submitting, he kept claiming his innocence. Jesus fully realised this truth.

Mankind was not ready for this. We proceded as we ever did and killed the most innocent man there ever was. We cannot go back. By exposing the truth, Jesus prevented mimetic crises from spiralling. Now, mankind keeps searching for the scapegoat, while violence keeps increasing.

Is there a solution? Mimetic desire is emotional. We need to oppose a mechanism similar in nature but stronger. We need to see the truth about the object of desire as a proxy. The man in front of us is not our opponent but like us; it is precisely because of this that we took him for an opponent.

When we can recognise ourselves in our neighbour, and him in us, then we will not be able to attack him. Mimetic spirals will finally be defused.

• Next: Unapologetic strategy