The stoning metaphor comes up again and again when you read the commentary on episodes like these. It’s no coincidence that it’s the death penalty of choice for the ancient religions: there is no single executioner; the community carries out the punishment. No one can say who struck the fatal blow, because everyone did together.2 For a burgeoning tribe, fighting to preserve itself and its god in a hostile world, what better prescription could there be? There is strength in collective guilt, and guilt is diffused in the sharing. Extirpate the Other and make yourselves whole again.
