By John Zmirak, a Senior Editor, The Stream - School shootings have become a uniquely American, demonic mode of performance “art.” Whichever evil spirits moved the killers of Columbine, they ensured that there would be imitators. As Christian philosopher Rene Girard observed, man is a mimetic animal. He learns what to do, for good or for ill, by emulating others. (That’s why we talk of “role models,” the “imitation of Christ,” and “copycat killers.”)