Sacrifice, a religious rite in which an object is offered to a divinity in order to establish, maintain, or restore a right relationship of a human being to the sacred order.
While the original use of the term was in the context of a religious act, the word is used more broadly today.
The term has acquired a popular and frequently secular use to describe some sort of renunciation or giving up of something valuable in order that something more valuable might be obtained.
In a secular context, it really isn’t much different than what was meant in the historic, religious context. Why would we sacrifice to the gods? Ultimately with the hope to gain something in the future (a good crop, victory over enemies, eternal life in heaven) better than we otherwise would have received (a hailstorm, defeat at the hands of enemies, eternity in hell). It always was, and remains today, giving up something of value in the hopes of attaining something more valuable in the future.
Desperation blinds me
And through these bloodstained eyes I see the light
A better life is worth this sacrifice
- The X Aspect, Dream Theater
Sacrifice is not an exchange of a good for a good; that is a trade. It is the exchange of a good for a hope, or a certainty for a possibility; one gives something up and may, or may not, receive that which he hopes for in return. We sacrifice today in order to have the possibility to achieve, in some manner or another, a better life tomorrow. But no guarantee.
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Genesis 22: 1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
“God endorses child sacrifice!” How many times are Christians beat over the head with this passage? “What does it say about the followers of such a God?” “What kind of God is that?” I will come back to these questions.
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Lesley Stahl: We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Madelaine Albright: I think that is a very hard choice, but the price, we think, the price is worth it.
The children were sacrificed for the hope that a better future would result. Secondary, for the purposes of this post, is for whom or in what manner we might find this better future. But child sacrifice it was – for the benefit of someone’s future.
As an aside, Albright has since written that she shouldn’t have put it that way, instead she should have pointed out that “Saddam Hussein could have prevented any child from suffering simply by meeting his obligations.” So, it was Saddam’s fault.
She would continue: “Nothing matters more than the lives of innocent people.”
Except for those we sacrifice.
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Depending on the source, it is estimated that something more than 40 million abortions are performed each year; one estimate is as high as 70 million. To what are these children sacrificed other than for a life better than the mother (and, potentially, the father) perceived it otherwise would have been had the child been born.
It is a hope, of course; there is no guarantee. A sacrifice.
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Critical theory (also capitalized as Critical Theory) is an approach to social philosophy that focuses on reflective assessment and critique of society and culture in order to reveal and challenge power structures.
Hey, I am all for challenging today’s power structures, with one key difference – I offer some thoughts on what might replace these current power structures, or hierarchies. Critical theorists critique society and culture, and offer as a replacement to current hierarchies…nothing.
[Jürgen] Habermas also replaces the expressive totality of a fully democratic society with the ideal of “undamaged intersubjectivity” and of universal solidarity established through “communication free from domination.”
“Free from domination” means no hierarchy; no hierarchy means no value system – nothing is or can be valued as more or better than any other thing.
Its most successful form has been through critical race theory, but almost equally successful regarding deconstruction of sex and gender norms. These ideas are consuming society, but have been most damaging to the young – certainly in university, but even as young as elementary school.
But it isn’t just the administrators, professors, elementary school principals, etc., that are sacrificing these children. What of the parents who send their children off to be lobotomized and weaponized like this? Why are they so willing to sacrifice their own flesh and blood?
For the young, their minds aren’t fully formed when they are being poisoned by this vile theory. The minds of millions of children are being sacrificed each year to ideas that will cause them a lifetime worth of damage, all for the benefit of what…or whom, exactly?
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Americans owe over $1.71 trillion in student loan debt, spread out among about 44.7 million borrowers.
This sacrifice is easy to explain: children’s’ future standard of living is being sacrificed for the benefit of current adult standard of living. Go to any college town, and what will you see? Dozens of new buildings, hundreds of new administrators, sprawling new sports complexes. Adults, both employed by the college and as contractors to it, are making billions of dollars per year on the backs of the future earning power of these student.
While the quality of education is no better than it was a few decades ago (much worse, actually; see the item immediately above), costs have skyrocketed due to easily obtained credit via student loans. Thus, many young adults who have no business in university mortgage their entire future for a useless degree:
The unemployment rate for young college graduates exceeds that of the general population, and about 41 percent of recent college graduates -- and 33.8 percent of all college graduates -- are underemployed in that they are working in jobs that don't require a college degree, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Sacrificed, for the benefit of administrators, contractors, public officials of all sorts.
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Autism prevalence has increased 178% since 2000. This according to the CDC. The CDC data goes back to the birth year 2000, when the rate was 1:150. There is estimated data back to 1970, when the rate was 1:10,000. Today, per the CDC data, it is 1:54.
The increase in prevalence rate cannot be explained by better diagnosis alone. Some have suggested that autism is just being better diagnosed today versus years ago and that many cases of intellectual disability are now being coded as autism. This would also assume that the experts diagnosing autism before did not know what they were doing. This is NOT TRUE. Autism is the only disorder dramatically on the rise while mental retardation or intellectual disability, Down syndrome and cystic fibrosis remain relatively the same.
So, it’s probably not just because no one noticed the symptoms prior to…oh…last year.
Autism receives approximately 5% of the government research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
Either those responsible for the medical condition of these children don’t want to learn the reasons behind this dramatic increase, in which case they should be both fired and put on trial, or they do know the reasons, but just don’t want us to know, in which case they should be both fired and put on trial.
But I bet they are making sure that these autistic children are following the science and wearing masks. One thing is for certain: far fewer than 1:54 children have been a victim of covid.
What are these children being sacrificed for?
Conclusion
At the beginning of this post, I cited a description of sacrifice as “giving up of something valuable in order that something more valuable might be obtained.”
Ayn Rand used the term differently: “‘Sacrifice’ is the surrender of a greater value for the sake of a lesser one or of a nonvalue.” Historically, religiously or otherwise, the term sacrifice never meant this. Rand’s definition suggests a trade – like I will give you a 911 GT2 RS if you give me your 2002 Ford Escort with 400,000 miles on it. That would be something like what Rand is describing. But that is really more like a gift, not a sacrifice.
Jesus offered this kind of “sacrifice,” the kind described by Rand – the surrender of a greater value for the sake of a lessor value. He gave His life for the salvation of those who didn’t deserve it. Like giving that Porsche to someone who has a 20-year-old Escort.
It was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices; or the gift that cannot be surpassed.
It is farcical to listen to critics of Christianity speak of God endorsing child sacrifice, when considering in how many ways adults are sacrificing their children today. The story of Abraham and Isaac is a story of God ending child sacrifice, not beginning it or endorsing it.
Mark 10: 13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
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