Animal sacrifice is it Evil

[chiefblackbear]

Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature. Animal sacrifice has turned up in almost all cultures, from the Hebrews to the Greeks and Romans and from the Aztecs to the Yoruba.

Walter Burkert in Homo necans argues that animal sacrifices reenact paleolithic hunting rituals, and that they are fundamentally identical in motivation to human sacrifices.

However, the practice was a taboo among the Ancient Egyptians, and they tended to look down on cultures that practised this custom. Animal sacrifice is still practised today by the followers of Santería and other "lineages of Orisa", as a means of curing the sick and giving thanks to the Orisa (Gods). However in Santeria, such animal offerings constitute an extremely small portion of what are termed "ebos" – ritual activities that include offerings, prayer and deeds. Some villages in Greece also sacrifice animals to Orthodox saints in a practise known as kourbània. The practise, while publicly condemned, is often tolerated for the benefits it provides to the church and the sense of community it engenders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sacrifice

[Lilbit]

I thought the ancient Egyptians did it also. I thought it stated in Ma'at. "I have not disturbed meat offerings."

[afrikanrebel06]

 no animal sacrifice is not evil, lets just look at the slaughter houses and how inhumane they treat coews and chickens, i think it is more inhumaneruel and brutal,what goes on in slaughter houses, in afrikan tradtional religion,we thank the animals fpr giving their life up so oyur lives can be better, heck jews also did sacrificed lambs it is part of ancestral religion, satanists sacrifice humans,so in that regard,i would say that animal sacrfice is not evil.

[c0cc0]

... I don't know. I do not agree with burning an animal alive to appease a god, but as for eating them, hey, humans are omnivores. Plants are organisms too. We all eat each other, exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide and vice versa, so, it's all in the circle of life. I feel so horrible about lambs and the whole Passover deal (I'm Hebrew or whatever-you-call-it from my dad's side, and I only practice the religion when I'm visiting his family), and to see that lamb in that church just made my heart ache. But lamb tastes so good... oh, it's delicious. Lions would eat us, right? So... I suppose I have no problem with me being eaten, just as long as I'm taken out quickly.

[chiefblackbear]

Hotep

There is no point of animal sacrifice no one can ever give a valid one. 

[afrikanrebel06]

 when an animal is taken down, even in native american spiritual system,prayers are done and made for this animal, the most inhumane thing is what happens in slaughter houses, where chickens have their beeks burnt and have you seen what happen to lambs and cows in slaugher houses,it is part of the tradition,and it is done with most and foremost reverence to MAA PANGA ANGAYAA,our sacred earth ONILE.why do you do sumething for the animals who give up their skins to become furs,for rich white folks and belive me,some rich black folks wear furs too,you know,have you seen what they doa toa fox,mint or other animals,have u seen what they do in seal hunts andf how they kill the seals,if u eat meat,you are eating the flash of this animal and each animals has its own spirit,so if you eat pork,you will be  or become the pig,because the spirit of this animal will be in you, why dont you criticize the satanists in north amerikkka that do human sacrifice,there is secret society in german,that requires that one of its members must be sacrficed.

[olufela]

From my understanding of animal sacrifice, the treatment upon sacrifice is way better than what an animal would get in a slaughter house before it his the shelf of your local grocery store.

[Bennu Ausar]

The word evil can be relative to some people. My definition of evil is any intentional act carried out that is understood to be immoral. The problem is that morality can a relative term also for many people (for me, it is very straightforward). Morality can easily be established by looking at the inter-relationship that exists between all things.

I believe a better question would be: is animal sacrifice necessary?

From my understanding of animal sacrifice, the animal is sacrificed so that the life-force of the animal can be appropriated for the purpose of the ritual. Many cultures have applied this technique successfully to carry out their objectives, however, the life force of an animal is never as potent as the life-force of the spiritually elevated human. The individual who has elevated him/herself spiritually will have access to much greater power for the accomplishment of their objectives. No physical sacrifice need be applied.

[afrikanrebel06]

interesting point,bennu  AUSAR, the jewish sacrifices a lamb,now they decided to sacrifice palestinians stead, point well taken, in yorubic tradtion that has been gone for centuries,,very good point

[nomo8]

to my knowledge, native americans in the northern hemisphere do not sacrifice an animal primarily as a ritual to appease a spirit or a god.  When hunting, after the animal is killed, it is treated with reverence and a small ceremony praising the spirit of the animal is performed so as to placate, among other things, the collective spirit of that particular animal.  It honors the animal, which unfortunately must die to feed the hungry hunter and family.  The predator loves its prey.

Hunters in Africa probably do the same thing.?  Or when an animal is slaughtered for purpose of a ritual feast and it's spirit is dedicated in some way, that is similar perhaps? Primarily, the animal is being killed for food and the ritual is important, but an afterthought.

using the life force of an animal primarily to acheive some percieved function by killing it to release "power" is perhaps a dangerous course.  Laying such a sacrifice before a god or gods for sake of appeasment could be a slippery slope, a stage perhaps in which to perform the same act on humans, singularly or collectively, in the name of a god, a war god for instance, who communicates with a priestly caste and or king. 

At the slaughterhouse, the animal is considered to have no soul and is property of man as ordained by the Christian god, so its suffering is not considered worthy of any sort of atonement, such as practiced by the native american hunter in relation to his or her prey.

In Egypt, I recall that the older form universal one god, aton (rah), was for a time replaced by the "hidden god", amon (amen - horned god) that did require animal sacrifice, which was indeed frowned upon by tradition in Egypt . The names of ancient gods, of course, transform cyclically depending on various factors, so my nomenclature may seem off to some, this is just a recollection and no reference in front of me.