Cultures that Engage in Modern-day Human Sacrifice

Most of us learned about the gruesome practice of human sacrifice in middle school (or maybe through an Indiana Jones movie). The Mayans cut the beating hearts out of their victims to win favors with the Gods. The God of Israel asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The Chimu tribe sacrificed 140 children in one ritual to appease the God of the sea. The Inca sacrificed children to the Sun God, Inti, with the hope of avoiding volcanic eruptions.

We baffle at the logic and convictions that led entire societies to engage repeatedly in such gruesome and unnatural rituals. How could people move about their daily routines intertwined with such wanton acts of violence? Human sacrifice always seemed to be a relic of dark minded (and skinned), ignorant indigenous people. Hollywood (and even Academia) caricatured these societies to the point where reflection and learning are limited. The only lesson to learn is that we are so much further evolved and civilized — right?

And yet, there are modern-day versions of child and human sacrifice that are endemic to our way of life. Just as we judge the ancients for their ignorance, they could very well judge us for our callous indifference and mindless allegiance to made up Gods that feed on human blood.

Child Sacrifice in Modern Times

Today, child sacrifice (in its “indigenous form”) has mostly disappeared. Uganda passed legislation banning child sacrifice on July 14th 2021 the stamp out what hopefully is the last remaining relic of this practice.

But it is not the ‘indigenous form’ of child Sacrifice that is endemic to our world. Innocent blood is shed and is set to shed at an alarming rate to appease gods that are as real (and imagined) as the Incan sun god.

There is no substantial difference between debts owed to an imagined sun god and debts owed to a fractional reserve based lending system. To make the monthly payments we sacrifice our health, well being and the future of our children and their children. To appease the gods of finance at the altar of unlimited growth, we are literally ripping out the heart of the rainforest and asphyxiating the oceans.

There is one difference between the sacrifice rituals of the ancients and what we are doing to ourselves and our children : they didn’t know any better. The concept of a sun god was as real as gravity for them. We don’t have the same excuse.

Can we see through the vanity of our finance and market systems to challenge their basic premises? What equivalence can we make between fiat currency (that is not even printed anymore) and the very real, scientific and physical processes that govern life on this planet?

Will we come to our senses and stop sacrificing our fellow beings and future generations?