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.
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