"A voice cries out in the wilderness”: The religio-political afterlife of ‘scapegoat’ and ‘messiah’ metaphors, from the Hebrew Bible to contemporary Australian political rhetoric

Abstract

Religion intercedes in the emotive underpinnings of politics in Australia far more than we realize. It is argued in colloquial settings that religion is only as relevant to Australian politics as it is to Australian culture which, according to census data, is increasingly irreligious. In contrast, scholars and commentators argue that religion is evident in politics through our colonial history, the ‘religious right’ and so-called ‘dog-whistle’ politics (Maddox 2001; 2005; Hindess 2014b; Lake 2018; Sheridan 2018). However, what is not known is why Judeo-Christian religious motifs and undertones are so persistent in political speechmaking and how they maintain their persuasiveness when Christianity has declined so significantly. Accordingly, this thesis examines the Biblical Hebrew origins and translation of two important Biblical metaphors and their continued use in the so-called ‘Afterlife of the Text’ (Benjamin 1968; Sawyer 1995; Kugel 2007; Sawyer 2018). This ‘afterlife’ includes use in contemporary Australian prime ministerial speeches. Using Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson 1980) as an analytical tool, I discuss the origins of the Biblical Hebrew metaphors of ‘scapegoat’ in Leviticus 16 and ‘messiah’ in Isaiah’s ‘Servant Songs’ (Isaiah 42:1–9; 49:1–13; 50:4– 11; 52:13– 53:12). In Leviticus, the conceptual metaphor SCAPEGOAT IS ATONEMENT is evident in the Day of Atonement ritual while in Isaiah’s Servants Songs, the conceptual metaphors of MESSIAH IS GUIDE and MESSIAH IS SACRIFICE are evident. The afterlife of the metaphors evolves beyond their Hebrew Bible origins, including use in Australian prime ministerial speeches from 2000-current. This qualitative analysis focuses on significant prime ministerial speeches: the ‘scapegoat’ in John Howard’s ministerial statement about entering the war in Iraq (Howard 2003) and in Kevin Rudd’s Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples (Rudd 2008), and the ‘messiah’ in Julia Gillard’s so-called ‘misogyny speech’ (Gillard 2012) and in Morrison’s press conference on floods, Parliament House culture and women’s safety (Morrison 2021b). This research shows how these two metaphors are part of the Australian political speechmaking landscape, though far removed from their Ancient Near Eastern origins. If we uncover use of Judeo-Christian metaphors within the political space, we will better be able to understand the use of biblical metaphors in contemporary Australian political speeches.