These related references give an all-inclusive account/description of what the humanly created world-MUMMERY is really all about, in both its secular and so called "religious" forms.
http://www.adidaupclose.org/Literature_Theater/scapegoat_intro.html

http://www.adidaupclose.org/Literature_Theater/index.html#mummery

Two related philosophical essays on the destructive nature of the Scapegoat drama/syndrome
http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/Aletheon/ontranscendingtheinsubordinatemind.html

http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/Aletheon/there_is_a_way_EDIT.html

Hi Peter, another interesting meditation, thanks.

I think your comment that "the essence of the human [is] not violence and competition but generosity, cooperation, friendship and self-giving" is not fundamentally a Christian model, it's always been a part of successful human social models. The Roman Republic, for example, was based on that concept and only failed to the extent that it could not live up to it and was forced to allow itself to be overtaken by self-interest within the political class of the day.

It's certainly true that those virtues are also shown to be the best possible way to maximise beneficial outcomes for a society by very stringent mathematical work being done in game theory and behavioural psychology to do with iterated games. In order to make it work, there is a need for transparency and a genuine commitment to understand the needs (not the wants, necessarily) of those who might be on the opposing side of a particular resource allocation argument.

The Islamic Caliphates were models of inclusion, introducing laws around trade and commerce between regions that were based on the idea of freedom to interact as equals across great distances, both physical and cultural and obligations to be hospitable to strangers (and for strangers not to abuse that generosity). The story of the Abrahamic religions is one of various attempts to formulate inclusive cultural models interspersed with periods of brutal repression of the outcomes by hegemonic power blocs.

The same might be said about the Vedic religions and can probably be extended all the way back to the beginnings of human social interactions.

As the world becomes more crowded it's becoming ever more urgent to find new ways to achieve that aim of a cooperative social model based on enlightened self-interest. I don't think it's especially useful to claim such a model as a Christian invention - that is at odds with Christ's example of humility, don't you think?

Craig,
I think you are right in saying that and anthropology that prioritises community is not a Christian invention. It is certainly an evolutionary consequence. My thoughts have been stimulated by a new book by Milbank and Pabst "The Politics of Virtue", well worth a look if you want to go deeper.
Peter

Thanks Peter, I'll try to get a copy to read over the uni break.

Hi Peter,
One good turn deserves another; you might enjoy this discussion by Michael Sandel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbBv2ZGC2VI