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AUTHOR
Emily McAvan
Victoria University
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Precarious Life and the Gift
In this paper, I discuss Genesis 22, the section of the Hebrew Bible in which the Biblical patriarch attempts to sacrifice his only ‘legitimate’ son Isaac to God. Drawing on philosophical discussions of this passage from Søren Kierkegaard and Jacques Derrida, I argue that the very idea of sacrifice has already excluded from the frame Isaac’s brother and mother. I suggest that this reflects a broader exclusion from religious sacrifice marginalised populations such as gay, lesbian and transgender people, whose lack of societal value may be found in punishment rather than sacrifice.
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CRICOS Code: 00126G
