1. Warfare as Sacrificial Myth and Scapegoat Mechanism

• Gornoski draws on Girard’s mimetic theory—which holds that societies resolve internal tensions by channeling violence onto a scapegoat, often in ritualistic or sacrificial ways.
• Warfare, for Gornoski, is not just geopolitical strategy but a modern reenactment of ancient sacrificial rituals—states demand blood sacrifice to uphold unity and societal cohesion. He argues that modern nation-states are our “modern gods," and we feed them through war. libraryofsocialscience.com
• In his essay “The State is the Religion of the Hidden Corpse,” he suggests that the mayor remnants of civilization are founded on ritual violence—just as ancient societies buried corpses in their walls to ensure order, modern states perpetuate war to bind citizens together. libraryofsocialscience.com

2. Narratives of Moral Justification & Scapegoating

• Gornoski critiques how political narratives cloak war in morally appealing language—rescuing oppressed populations or defending democracy—while hiding deeper motives like economic interests or power politics. 
• Referencing U.S. interventions in Iraq or Libya, he points out how leaders package war in compassionate rhetoric, which obscures the scapegoat mechanism at work. 

3. Christianity’s Disruption of the Sacrificial Myth

• As a Christian libertarian influenced by Girard, Gornoski argues that the story of Jesus exposes and subverts sacrificial, scapegoat-driven mythologies. Christianity, in his view, reveals scapegoating from the victim's perspective and dismantles its narrative power. 
• This spiritual critique, he suggests, is why Western hierarchies and state power structures are increasingly unstable—because Christianity has introduced a new mythological framework that undermines the sacrificial logic that undergirds statism. 

4. Libertarian Anthropology and Storytelling Against Statism

• On the Mises Institute’s Human Action Podcast, Gornoski frames the modern state itself as a scapegoat-making machine, using ritualized, coercive violence to uphold its legitimacy—a feature he traces back to Girard's insights. Mises Institute
• He urges libertarians to challenge the state’s narrative control by becoming the storytellers themselves—revealing government as the true villain and promoting narratives rooted in individual liberty and nonviolence. Mises Institute

5. Christianity, Scapegoating, and the Church

• In his podcasts (e.g., “Church Scapegoating and Violence”), Gornoski examines how even the Church can fall into scapegoating behaviors. He critiques how institutional religious structures can reenact ritualistic violence or suppress dissent—contrary to the nonviolent personhood revolution he champions. Libsyndavidgornoski.libsyn.com

Summary Table

David Gornoski doesn’t dissect battlefield tactics or military doctrine—he deconstructs warfare as a myth-making and sacrificial act, grounded in anthropology, mythology, and Christian critique. Warfare, for him, is a ritual enacted by the state to preserve unity, justified through scapegoating and clothed in moralistic narratives. Christianity, he believes, disrupts these narratives by exposing the scapegoat mechanism and pointing toward nonviolent personhood. Libertarians, in turn, should challenge state power by becoming storytellers who dismantle its mythic foundations.

Warfare, for Gornoski, is not just geopolitical strategy but a modern reenactment of ancient sacrificial rituals—states demand blood sacrifice to uphold unity and societal cohesion. He argues that modern nation-states are our “modern gods,” and we feed them through war.

🔍 Statement:

"Warfare, for Gornoski, is not just geopolitical strategy but a modern reenactment of ancient sacrificial rituals—states demand blood sacrifice to uphold unity and societal cohesion. He argues that modern nation-states are our “modern gods,” and we feed them through war."

🔹 What It Means:

1. "Warfare... is not just geopolitical strategy"

This means Gornoski sees war as more than just politics between nations or military tactics. It’s not just about borders, oil, or ideology.

Instead, he sees war as something deeper and older, rooted in how human societies have always dealt with internal conflict.

2. "...but a modern reenactment of ancient sacrificial rituals"

In ancient times, when societies faced unrest or crisis, they often dealt with it by sacrificing someone or something—an animal, a slave, a criminal, or even a random innocent person.

This ritual sacrifice would "purify" the group, restore order, and give everyone a sense of unity—because they now had a common "enemy" or scapegoat.

🔁 Gornoski argues that modern warfare functions the same way, even though we don’t call it "sacrifice." Nations go to war to preserve order, give people a sense of purpose, and unite them against a common enemy (real or invented).

3. "States demand blood sacrifice to uphold unity and societal cohesion"

Gornoski is saying: the state needs violence to hold people together—just like ancient tribes needed ritual killings to avoid collapsing into chaos.

So instead of offering a literal sacrifice on an altar, we send soldiers to die, drop bombs, and justify it as necessary for "freedom," "security," or "democracy."

That bloodshed becomes the modern ritual—the price paid to preserve the myth of national unity.

4. "He argues that modern nation-states are our 'modern gods'"

In the ancient world, people worshipped gods who demanded sacrifices.

Gornoski is saying that today, we’ve replaced those gods with the state. We may not call the government a "god," but we give it:

• the power to kill
• the power to define morality (e.g., just war, heroism)
• our loyalty and even our children (military service)

So, in effect, we treat the state like a god that must be served—even if it costs lives.

5. "We feed them through war"

Just like people once fed their gods with animal sacrifices, we now feed the state with human lives through war.

Each war becomes a ritual feeding of the state’s power—keeping the national myth alive, reinforcing its authority, and distracting from internal conflict.

🧠 Underlying Influences:

This view is heavily influenced by:

• René Girard’s mimetic theory (we imitate each other’s desires → rivalry → violence → scapegoating)
• Christian theology (Jesus as the final, innocent scapegoat who ends the sacrificial cycle)
• Libertarian suspicion of state power

📌 In Summary:

For Gornoski, war is a modern version of ancient sacrifice. It's not just politics or defense—it's a deep-rooted ritual that unites people through shared violence, upholds the state’s sacred status, and demands suffering to maintain order. Just like ancient gods were fed with sacrifices, modern governments are fed with war and death.