Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
Archaic Sacrifice in Modern Forms

Archaic Sacrifice in Modern Forms

Last updated on: November 11, 2017 at 12:46 am by Matthew Distefano

Archaic Sacrifice in Modern Forms 2017-11-11T00:46:15-06:00 Matthew Distefano

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Courtesy of Pixabay

Courtesy of Pixabay

The practice of sacrifice has been around as long as human civilization. In fact, according to René Girard, civilization is necessitated by it. Archaeologically, we see evidence of this in humanity’s most ancient sites (see Göbekli Tepe and Çatalhöyük). And even the Bible, which is much more recent, understands that sacrifice is presupposed (Genesis 4:3).

But this practice is not confined to the Bronze Age and prior. Nor is it confined to those bloodthirsty gods from the Hebrew Bible (i.e., Molech, Ba’al, and the like). In fact, as recent as the 16th century, the Aztecs were in the business of offering human hearts to all sorts of different gods—sometimes by the tens of thousands per day even! Disgusting, right? Barbaric. Sick. Twisted. All sorts of adjectives, I get it.

But here’s the crux of things—we’re still doing the same thing today. It just manifests in different forms.

Allow me to explain.

You see, the kings and priests of the 16th century Aztec empire were nothing if not future victims of sacrifice themselves. They even embraced this. It was an honor to be chosen for sacrifice (of course, not in every instance, like those who were captured in war). But for many, it was revered. The people recognized that the sacrifice—even self-sacrifice—is what spared them from wrath, what “kept peace.”

Today, however, we sort of do the same thing. That is what I have noticed anyway. What we do though is recruit teenagers at their schools, telling them about what a great future the armed forces ensures, if only they would sign on the dotted line. Here, they will find who they truly are! And boy do they, when they are sent overseas—all too often to regions with plenty of oil!—to be sacrificed to the black gold gods. We even use the appropriate language: “they paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”

And to be honest, they did. It is their sacrifice that keeps us “free,” that keeps us “at peace,” that keeps us “safe and secure.”

Like the Aztecs, we are privy to this. So we too immortalize the victims this sacrificial mechanism produces, turning them—and their American-flag-draped caskets—into a sort of god, who had just been slain on the altar of war.

Now, I don’t say that to cause offense. We should honor them. We should grieve their loss. But their victimage should not be what is used to “make peace.” That is no different than how the Aztecs made peace. And frankly, that is no different than how Bronze Age “barbarians” made peace.

Are we no better than this?

Well, we should be.

After all, we are “enlightened.” We are “modern.” O, how civilized we are!

Well no, actually, we are not these things.

We have just become more subtle in our sacrificing. Instead of carving open the abdomens and chests of one of our warriors, we send them off to war, to “fight the good fight” (or, in other words, to do the bidding of the world’s most powerful and elite). In my country, we adorn it in red, white, and blue. In other countries, the colors may be different, but the mechanism is the same. Do it for national pride! Do it for glory! Make the sacrifice!

It’s a bloody shame.

All this being said, I’m not sure I have the best answer to this problem humanity is in. In fact, the answer I provide indeed seems to be, as poet Wilfred Owen puts it, “an ignominious principle.” And he’s probably right, especially when thinking of such entities as ISIS! But I still think the answer is found in following Jesus, in denouncing violence in all forms, in forgiving thine enemies, in giving one’s self in love to the other.

Like I said, it isn’t a “great” answer—not by human standards anyway—but it is the answer the True Human gave. So perhaps this is what it means to have faith. In spite of this answer being fairly illogical and frankly absurd, have faith that it indeed is the answer. Have faith that there need not be any more sacrifices made to the gods of our mind, whether gods with specific names like Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca, or gods with generic names like “religion” or “nationalism.”

I do have faith that this will one day “work.” I dare not think Jesus believed peace was only some sort of pipe-dream that would never become a reality. After all, he really did die a real human death because of this dream. So if it was that important to him, and if I am going to try to follow him—as uncomfortable as that sounds—I am going to have to make it important to me.

So try to have faith with me, even if your faith is just like mine—no bigger than a mustard seed.

Shalom and salaam and in the words of our risen Lord: “Peace be with you.”

Previous Post

May 30, 2016

The Lost Sheep: More Questions Than Answers

Next Post

July 8, 2016 Of God and Self

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Book Review Early Church Eschatology eternal torment Hell Hermeneutics LGBTQ+ Mimetic Theory Mysticism News Old Testament Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Religion Sacrifice Satire Soteriology Theology Uncategorized Violence

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 June 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was Elihu’s main argument against Job during Job's test?

Select your answer to see how you score.

That Job didn’t pray enough That Job had abandoned the law That Job was self-righteous That Job had committed a secret sin

Books by This Author Books by All Set Free

See All Titles »