by ivarisag

Sacrificing Children: the Return of Barbaric Practice of Offering Blood of Children to violent Deities

By Nestor Ravilas

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the speaker of the House of Representatives, finally admitted what was actually a public knowledge, it was the president who wants to criminalize our children. And she is there to carry out the wishes of the sovereign.


Rene Girard and Susan Niditch, among others, are two scholars who are so fascinated with the practice of sacrificial rituals. The two inspired a scholarly research on worldwide occurences of sacrificial practices. What baffle these scholars is the question of its origin. At any rate, most if not all, see in it the barbaric nature of humans converted into religious symbols later in history.

The most savage of this that confounded more the issue is the practice of sacrificing children to deities. A problem that haunted the Old Testament despite the effort to stifle its vestiges. Susan Niditch asks in her book the poignant question that troubles people who worship the Old Testament god. “What kind of God will accept the offering of children?” she said. Jon Levenson joining the band, agree with them that sacrificing children was a common practice in Eastern Near East during the biblical period. Sad that the Israelites was also implicated in this evil that was only stopped during the reformed initiated by King Josiah.

In those traces of child sacrifices both in biblical and in non-biblical records, it appears that children are the highest sacrifice a worshiper can offer in a deity. Mostly in critical stage, where the worshiper is in dire need of divine favour from a blood sucking god, a child is the best and precious sacrifice she can offer. The violent god cannot refuse the blood of a child, and the worshiper knows that that is the only way to satiate and satisfy HIM.

Philippines is now on its knees worshiping a violent god. There is no other way to gain his favour but to offer blood, and more and more blood. But what will satisfy him most is to offer the blood of our children, and the younger the offerings are, the assurance to make him feel good.