Cannibalism and Human Sacrifice - Part I

Written by Sam Vaknin


"I believe that when man evolves a civilization higher thanrepparttar mechanized but still primitive one he has now,repparttar 132162 eating of human flesh will be sanctioned. For then man will have thrown off all of his superstitions and irrational taboos."

(Diego Rivera)

"One calls 'barbarism' whatever he is not accustomed to."

(Montaigne, On Cannibalism)

"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eatrepparttar 132163 flesh ofrepparttar 132164 Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up atrepparttar 132165 last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."

(New Testament, John 6:53-55)

Cannibalism (more precisely, anthropophagy) is an age-old tradition that, judging by a constant stream of flabbergasted news reports, is far from extinct. Much-debated indications exist that our Neanderthal, Proto-Neolithic, and Neolithic (Stone Age) predecessors were cannibals. Similarly contested claims were made with regards torepparttar 132166 12th century advanced Anasazi culture inrepparttar 132167 southwestern United States andrepparttar 132168 Minoans in Crete (today's Greece).

The Britannica Encyclopedia (2005 edition) recounts howrepparttar 132169 "Binderwurs of central India ate their sick and aged inrepparttar 132170 belief thatrepparttar 132171 act was pleasing to their goddess, Kali." Cannibalism may also have been common among followers ofrepparttar 132172 Shaktism cults in India.

Other sources attribute cannibalism torepparttar 132173 16th century Imbangala in today's Angola and Congo,repparttar 132174 Fang in Cameroon,repparttar 132175 Mangbetu in Central Africa,repparttar 132176 Ache in Paraguay,repparttar 132177 Tonkawa in today's Texas,repparttar 132178 Calusa in current day Florida,repparttar 132179 Caddo and Iroquois confederacies of Indians in North America,repparttar 132180 Cree in Canada,repparttar 132181 Witoto, natives of Colombia and Peru,repparttar 132182 Carib inrepparttar 132183 Lesser Antilles (whose distorted name - Canib - gave rise torepparttar 132184 word "cannibalism"), to Maori tribes in today's New Zealand, and to various peoples in Sumatra (likerepparttar 132185 Batak).

The Wikipedia numbers amongrepparttar 132186 practitioners of cannibalismrepparttar 132187 ancient Chinese,repparttar 132188 Korowai tribe of southeastern Papua,repparttar 132189 Fore tribe in New Guinea (and many other tribes in Melanesia),repparttar 132190 Aztecs,repparttar 132191 people of Yucatan,repparttar 132192 Purchas from Popayan, Colombia,repparttar 132193 denizens ofrepparttar 132194 Marquesas Islands of Polynesia, andrepparttar 132195 natives ofrepparttar 132196 captaincy of Sergipe in Brazil.

From Congo and Central Africa to Germany and from Mexico to New Zealand, cannibalism is enjoying a morbid revival of interest, if not of practice. A veritable torrent of sensational tomes and movies adds to our ambivalent fascination with man-eaters.

Cannibalism is not a monolithic affair. It can be divided thus:

I. Non-consensual consumption of human flesh post-mortem

For example, whenrepparttar 132197 corpses of prisoners of war are devoured by their captors. This used to be a common exercise among island tribes (e.g., in Fiji,repparttar 132198 Andaman and Cook islands) and is stillrepparttar 132199 case in godforsaken battle zones such as Congo (formerly Zaire), or amongrepparttar 132200 defeated Japanese soldiers in World War II.

Similarly, human organs and fetuses as well as mummies are still being gobbled up - mainly in Africa and Asia - for remedial and medicinal purposes and in order to enhance one's libido and vigor.

On numerous occasionsrepparttar 132201 organs of dead companions, colleagues, family, or neighbors were reluctantly ingested by isolated survivors of horrid accidents (the Uruguay rugby team whose plane crashed inrepparttar 132202 Andes,repparttar 132203 boat people fleeing Asia), denizens of besieged cities (e.g., duringrepparttar 132204 siege of Leningrad), members of exploratory expeditions gone astray (the Donner Party in Sierra Nevada, California and John Franklin's Polar expedition), famine-stricken populations (Ukraine inrepparttar 132205 1930s, China inrepparttar 132206 1960s), andrepparttar 132207 like.

Finally, in various pre-nation-state and tribal societies, members ofrepparttar 132208 family were encouraged to eat specific parts of their dead relatives as a sign of respect or in order to partake ofrepparttar 132209 deceased's wisdom, courage, or other positive traits (endocannibalism).

II. Non-consensual consumption of human flesh from a live source

For example, when prisoners of war are butchered forrepparttar 132210 express purpose of being eaten by their victorious enemies.

A notorious and rare representative of this category of cannibalism isrepparttar 132211 punitive ritual of being eaten alive. The kings ofrepparttar 132212 tribes ofrepparttar 132213 Cook Islands were thought to embodyrepparttar 132214 gods. They punished dissent by dissecting their screaming and conscious adversaries and consuming their flesh piecemeal, eyeballs first.

The Sawney Bean family in Scotland, duringrepparttar 132215 reign of King James I, survived for decades onrepparttar 132216 remains (and personal belongings) of victims of their murderous sprees.

Real-life serial killers, like Jeffrey Dahmer, Albert Fish, Sascha Spesiwtsew, Fritz Haarmann, Issei Sagawa, and Ed Gein, lured, abducted, and massacred countless people and then consumed their flesh and preservedrepparttar 132217 inedible parts as trophies. These lurid deeds inspired a slew of books and films, most notably The Silence ofrepparttar 132218 Lambs with Hannibal (Lecter)repparttar 132219 Cannibal as its protagonist.

III. Consensual consumption of human flesh from live and dead human bodies

Armin Meiwes,repparttar 132220 "Master Butcher (Der Metzgermeister)", arranged overrepparttar 132221 Internet to meet Bernd Jurgen Brandes on March 2001. Meiwes amputatedrepparttar 132222 penis of his guest and they both ate it. He then proceeded to kill Brandes (withrepparttar 132223 latter's consent recorded on video), and snack on what remained of him. Sexual cannibalism is a paraphilia and an extreme - and thankfully, rare - form of fetishism.

The Five Most Deplorable Wastes of Human Life

Written by Terry Mitchell


God created life and therefore it is precious. It should not be taken away without just cause. It should not be endangered in a flippant or careless manner. It should be nurtured and protected torepparttar fullest extent ofrepparttar 132160 law. All too often, though, human life is treated as expendable by governments and average citizens alike. Convenience, pleasure, revenge, power, politics, and even outright indifference sometimes get a higher priority than human life. Due to those kinds of attitudes, human life is wasted on a daily basis. Every waste of human life is shameful, but there are five particularly deplorable ways in which it is destroyed. I would like to briefly discuss each of them. (1) Abortion. If abortion is not a deplorable waste of human life, there aren't any. Obviously, there are exceptions like cases of rape, non-consensual incest, and situations in whichrepparttar 132161 life or health ofrepparttar 132162 mother is at stake. Abortion for any other reason is nothing but legalized murder. No, convenience is not a justifiable reason for snuffing outrepparttar 132163 lives of unborn children before they get a chance to take their first breath. Feminists, Planned Parenthood, N.O.W., liberals, and those who are too spineless to speak up for what is right can call it a "woman's choice" issue all they want, but it doesn't changerepparttar 132164 sad reality. Yes, I do believe women should have control over their own bodies, including reproductive rights, but that's notrepparttar 132165 issue here. In fact, that whole argument is a red herring. Women can choose to not get pregnant. Whether through abstaining from sex or using reliable methods of birth control, it's their choice. Taking another human life, onrepparttar 132166 other hand, should not be a choice that's available to any individual in a civilized society. (2) Unnecessary wars. There's nothing sadder than reading or hearingrepparttar 132167 names of young, vital, and talented young men and women who have been cut in down inrepparttar 132168 prime of their lives in a war that did not have to be fought. Sometimes wars are unavoidable. Often, there are evil aggressors inrepparttar 132169 world who won't respond to anything but brute force. In those cases, not fighting a war could ultimately cost more lives than actually fighting it. However, many times there are viable alternatives to war, such as diplomatic maneuvers and containment. No war should ever be fought until all of those options have been exhausted. Unfortunately, there are leaders all overrepparttar 132170 world who are, at times, determined to go to war, regardless ofrepparttar 132171 other available options. Political ambition orrepparttar 132172 drive to enhance their popularity at home often prompts leaders to send their young citizens off to war. Greed andrepparttar 132173 drive to seize more territory are motivating factors for other heads of state. Others are driven by bogus intelligence and unsubstantiated fear into fighting preemptive wars. Still others are well-intentioned individuals who honestly believe their war efforts are makingrepparttar 132174 world a safer place. They seem to forget that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." (3) Executions of non-violent offenders. Many countries around world imposerepparttar 132175 ultimate sanction on those found guilty of crimes that range from drug possession to adultery. Even many countries that have never been guilty of this practice sometimes appear to condone it.

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