Christianity and Human Sacrifice
There are few things more objectionable to modern sensibilities than human sacrifice. Yet the ritualistic slaying of humans in honor of a deity was not just an ancient “pagan” practice but that of the Israelites as well. Like many of the more unsavory parts of the bible, the story of Jepthah’s daughter is not often preached to congregations on sunny Sunday mornings so I have included it here for those unfamiliar with it:
“Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah....And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD : "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." ...and the LORD gave [the Ammonites] into his hands. ... When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break." "My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry." "You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.” (Judges 11:29-39)
Carol A. Valentine comments on the brutality of the story: “In payment for victory, Jephthah promises LORD God he will sacrifice the first ‘whatsoever’ that comes from his house to greet him upon his return. Unless Jephthah keeps oxen, sheep, goats, or chickens in his living room, he must expect the promised victim will be a human being. …We suspect Jephthah plans to sacrifice one of his servants. But when the ‘whatsoever’ turned out to be Jephthah’s daughter, Jephthah is surprised. Notice his daughter’s reaction: She expresses no surprise that LORD God would accept a human sacrifice, nor does she protest; …The Old Testament does not specify how Jephthah sacrifices his daughter, but following the correct methods for animal sacrifice, he would slit her throat first and drain her blood into a Temple service vessel; cut off her arms, legs, and head; cut the torso in sections, remove her entrails and wash them; pour, sprinkle, and smear her blood at prescribed points around the altar; and burn the flesh. Or of course, a priest might do this for him.”
There are numerous other texts supporting the fact the Christian God enjoyed a good human sacrifice. He tests Abraham who, like Jepthah’s daughter, is unsurprised by the request that he sacrifice a human. In a bizarre passage, God admits to making bad commands that “do not bring life” and shows his people he is LORD by letting them sacrifice their children (Ez 20:26). Yeah, that will show them! And there is what could be called the Human Sacrifice Law that actually commands that any human unconditionally dedicated to him must be put to death (Lv 27:28-29).
The sacrifice of Jesus is but the evolution of the ridiculous superstition that a “scape goat” could take away the sins of the people (Lv 16:20-22). And though few Christians see it as such, the crucifix is a symbol of the ugly ritual of human sacrifice that reaches back into our darkest days.
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17 comments:
When you look closely at these stories, they are even more stomach-turning than upon first blush. I have had numerous conversations with my evangelical father about this concept of "shedding blood" to make things right with god. I hear terms like "beautiful lamb" and "perfect sacrifice". The truth is that the crucifixion of jesus was torture; there was nothing beautiful about that (unless you're "into" stuff like that, I suppose). But my dad has always assumed that blood has to be shed; by somebody. This does not make any sense to me unless you take into account the actions of the pagans prior to christianity. I understand this practice was borrowed. This is because humankind was very ignorant; how can people really believe that a wise and loving god would do things like this? We expect more from human beings that that.
Yes, it is amazing what nonsense we happily and unthinkingly swallow if it has tradition and authority behind it. “beautiful”, “perfect”? yeah right!
And as you note the practice of human sacrifice by the Israelites was certainly not an original idea but had been practiced throughout the world for perhaps tens of thousands of years.
And cannibalism, which maybe i will tackle tomorrow, was a related ritual and is seen in Christianity today as Catholics happily gobble down what they believe to be the actual flesh and blood of Jesus. Mmmmmmmm!
Actually, we protestants love to party on the flesh and blood of jesus also - please do not leave us out. Unlike Catholics, we only do it occasionally, like on Easter Sunday. The rest of the time we just chew on the flesh of other animals.
Well, the protestants of course understand the bread and wine are mere symbols of body and blood. The Catholics on the other hand— through the Pope’s decree of “transubstation”— believe what looks like regular old bread and wine is magically turned into the real muscle and blood of Jesus when it is blessed by the man with the funny hat.
OK, did not know that. Let's see if I've got this right: If you are catholic, I'm assuming you have faith, rosary beads and a healthy dose of shame, when you eat bread and drink wine it actually BECOMES flesh and blood. OK, now that I've explained it to myself it makes much more sense.
Well you’re almost there...it isn’t after they eat it that it changes, it changes on the fancy linen covered table when the priest blesses it so in fact it is the flesh of God that they are chewing and the blood of God they are drinking. And my very otherwise rational, intelligent and wonderful friends teach their impressionable children this utter nonsense.
OK, now I KNOW you are being unfair to catholics. I do realize that Mother Theresa and other catholics probably set civil rights for women back 30 years with her/their harmful views on birth control; and the catholic church may have destroyed our aboriginal population with their abusive residential schools; and, oh yeah, they may have had some involvement in the torture of women they like to call "witches". HOWEVER. They do not think that playing cards, bingo, and dancing are of the devil. If you are a protestant, anything fun (rock music, sex, gambling, drinking, dancing, movies, etc.) must be a SIN with a capital "s". You gotta admit - those catholics know how to have a good time. Nuff said!
One more thing. I want to let you and your readers know about a book called "the god virus" by Dr. Darrell Ray. Check out Amazon for a book review. I haven't read it yet, but apparently it delves even deeper into the reasons why people believe unbelievable things, how it impacts on a culture, and how the virus spreads.
This thought of the day highlights that belief in god is not necessarily moral. Check out this information:
In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion in the prosperous democracies (Figures 1-9). The most theistic prosperous democracy, the U.S., is exceptional, but not in the manner Franklin predicted. The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developed democracies, sometimes spectacularly so, and almost always scores poorly. The view of the U.S. as a “shining city on the hill” to the rest of the world is falsified when it comes to basic measures of societal health. [ref]
(Journal of Religion and Society, Vol. 7, 2005)
and this quote from Sam Harris:
While most Americans believe that getting rid of religion is an impossible goal, much of the developed world has already accomplished it. Any account of a “god gene” that causes the majority of Americans to helplessly organize their lives around ancient works of religious fiction must explain why so many inhabitants of other First World societies apparently lack such a gene. The level of atheism throughout the rest of the developed world refutes any argument that religion is somehow a moral necessity. Countries like Norway, Iceland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom are among the least religious societies on Earth. According to the United Nations’ Human Development Report (2005) they are also the healthiest, as indicated by measures of life expectancy, adult literacy, per capita income, educational attainment, gender equality, homicide rate and infant mortality. Conversely, the 50 nations now ranked lowest in terms of human development are unwaveringly religious. Other analyses paint the same picture: The United States is unique among wealthy democracies in its level of religious literalism and opposition to evolutionary theory; it is also uniquely beleaguered by high rates of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy, STD infection and infant mortality. The same comparison holds true within the United States itself: Southern and Midwestern states, characterized by the highest levels of religious superstition and hostility to evolutionary theory, are especially plagued by the above indicators of societal dysfunction, while the comparatively secular states of the Northeast conform to European norms. Of course, correlational data of this sort do not resolve questions of causality--belief in God may lead to societal dysfunction; societal dysfunction may foster a belief in God; each factor may enable the other; or both may spring from some deeper source of mischief. Leaving aside the issue of cause and effect, these facts prove that atheism is perfectly compatible with the basic aspirations of a civil society; they also prove, conclusively, that religious faith does nothing to ensure a society’s health.
Countries with high levels of atheism also are the most charitable in terms of giving foreign aid to the developing world. The dubious link between Christian literalism and Christian values is also belied by other indices of charity. Consider the ratio in salaries between top-tier CEOs and their average employee: in Britain it is 24 to 1; France 15 to 1; Sweden 13 to 1; in the United States, where 83% of the population believes that Jesus literally rose from the dead, it is 475 to 1. Many a camel, it would seem, expects to squeeze easily through the eye of a needle.
Right! Catholics do know how to drink and have a good time. Probably developed the drinking habit to cope with all the guilt! I too give them kudos for that. And depending on the particular sect of Protestantism they too partake of smoking, drinking and gambling.
The book sounds great--I am trying to get through several right now but look forward to reading it. Thanks.
I'm sorry to leave another LONG quote here - but I found this article on christianity and cannibalism on "God Is Imaginary": (I promise I won't be taking up any more valuable space on today's commentary)
Because Christians have been participating in the communion rite for many years, they tend to forget just how bizarre this ritual is. The whole idea of "eating Jesus' body" and "drinking his blood" is grotesque in the extreme.
Have you ever wondered where this ritual came from, or why billions of people would participate in a ritual that is this bizarre? First, let's look at the part of the Bible that prescribes the ritual. You find it in Mark, Chapter 14:
And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
There are a few lines in Luke chapter 22 that are nearly identical.
Jesus gets far more graphic, however, in John chapter 6:53-55:
So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
To any normal person, this sounds very much like the script of a gruesome horror film. It sounds like some sort of revolting satanic ritual. It definitely does not sound like the words of the all-loving creator of the universe.
Imagine that you are a normal person, and you have never been exposed to Christianity before. Now imagine that a Christian comes up to you and quotes John 6:53. Any normal adult would rightfully assume the Christian to be insane. Thus, you never see a bumper sticker that says "John 6:53."
However, the assumption is accurate. The dictionary describes cannibalism in the following way:
The usually ritualistic eating of human flesh by a human being
What Jesus is demanding is cannibalism.
What does your common sense tell you about all of this? What we are talking about here is cannibalism, and what Christians are doing looks exactly like a pagan/satanic ritual. If you are a Christian, the two questions you may be asking yourself right now are:
Why in the world am I, as a sane individual, participating in ritualistic cannibalism? How in the world did I stoop to this point?
Why would an all-powerful, all-loving God demand that I do this? What sort of God am I worshipping?
The source of the ritual
If you are curious, here is why Christianity contains this bizarre ritual. It is not the case that an all-powerful God in heaven demands this behavior. All of the rituals in Christianity are completely man-made. Christianity is a snow ball that rolled over a dozen pagan religions. As the snowball grew, it freely attached pagan rituals in order to be more palatable to converts. The process is described succinctly and accurately in the book "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. The book offers these two accounts of the acretion process:
"The vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbology are undeniable. Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints. Pictograms of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the blueprint for our modern images of the Virgin Mary nursing Baby Jesus. And virtually all the elements of the Catholic ritual - the miter, the altar, the doxology, and communion, the act of "God-eating" - were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery religions."
"Nothing in Christianity is original. The pre-Christian God Mithras - called the Son of God and the Light of the World - was born on December 25, died was buried in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days. By the way, December 25 is also the birthday or Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus. The newborn Krishna was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Even Christianity's weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans."
To any normal person, the practice of communion is one of the most bizarre things that Christians do. Jesus' cannibalistic tendencies offer explicit evidence that Jesus is not God.
When you research it historically, you realize that Jesus was a human being like any other. The mythology of his birth, life and death are pagan stories that are all man-made because God is imaginary.
Great article, Janet. Thanks for posting. The only point I would take issue with is the second to last sentence-
“When you research it historically, you realize that Jesus was a human being like any other.”
I am not at all sure there was even a man named Jesus that legend was built around. All the evidence seems to point to a character completely evolved from previous myths much the same as Moses, Noah and Samson.
This is weird. I just read Friday's "thought of the day" and it was about how we make god in our own image. Now it's gone - can't find today's thought!
I wanted to comment on the extent to which we guilt ourselves, twist and spin to fit inside a mold that we have created to be "godlike". I came across a website talking about teenagers who are publicly stating their christian beliefs. In other words, it's "Kool to be Kristian!!!" Check this out:
The Passion for Christ Movement has launched their new T-Shirt line (P4CM.com) entitled "The Ex-Series." At the forefront of their campaign is the "EX-MASTURBATOR" t-shirt, an achievement they claim is possible with the help of Christ. Also available: "Ex-Fornicator," "Ex-Diva," "Ex-Slave," "Ex-Atheist," and "Ex-Hypocrite."
Their website states:
When God wants to take His message of deliverance across the globe, there is NO stopping Him. Check out this feature of the EX Shirts on one of the fastest growing Christian Hip Hop magazines in the US: www.DaSouth.com. Also, hit up their new article, "Masturbation" It breaks down the lies behind masturbation, explains how this is actually a sin, and how we can be freed through Christ.
And if you need even more encouragement, check out ya girl Dameco's latest blog entry, in which she fearlessly testifies to her struggle and victory over masturbation!
We pray that you will join us in breaking the silence on an issue that has stayed silent for too long. Be the first to boldly rock your Ex-Masturbator shirt and let's change the world baby! Click below on one of the pictures to order your shirt.
Quote over - it's Janet again. Well, obviously I'm happy for anyone who, with the lord's help, is able to claim victory over masturbation. Notwithstanding the fact that I believe that unnatural repression of sex spills out into perversion in our society. I think all the sex crimes in north america (including rape & incest) can largely be explained by the twisting of sexuality by christianity. This is one example of how we try to remake ourselves into what we believe to be god's image; but in fact, we have created this god AND the image ourselves. How sad for us.
Sorry, Janet! The disappearing thought of the day is back. Was trying to make my initial ramblings a little more coherent... anyway, feel free to repost your thoughts there ...creepy stuff!!
"EX-MASTURBATOR" ?--good luck with that!!
"Ex-Fornicator,"? right!
"Ex-Diva," ? would be nice.
"Ex-Slave," ? Christianity is a slave religion, made for slaves and God is the ultimate slave master. Oh the irony!
"Ex-Hypocrite."? We are all hypocites but only the deluded righteous would wear a shirt stating they are not.
Just wanted to make a correction--seems I left a few letters out of this in my earlier post. The correct word is “transubstantiation”. Basically means trans-change and substan-substance.
I guess the Catholic Church read the verse that Jesus says without eating his flesh and drinking his blood you don’t get to go to heaven so they figured out a way to do that. Clever guys.
The doctrine of transubstantiation is based on Aristotelean philosophy. Aristotle's theory of substance was the backbone of the teaching behind transubstantiation. The ideas behind it are much deeper than the shallow comments made here.
Early Christians were falsely accused of being cannibals in the first century. In his Apology, Justin Martyr wrote a defense to the false rumors that were spreading about the Lord's Supper.
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