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Terms like sacrifice, martyrdom, scapegoating, terrorism and suicide have been misunderstood, misrepresented and erroneously used interchangeably. This paper defines, explains and differentiates among these terms with emphasis on the psychological aspects of these constructs. Additional resources for each of the five topics are included, and a collection of quotes from a variety of resources on the different topics is presented.
Sacrifice
Sacrifice (from a Middle English verb meaning 'to make sacred', from Old French, from Latin sacrificium: sacer, sacred; sacred + facere, to make) is commonly known as the practice of offering food, or the lives of animals or people to the gods, as an act of propitiation or worship. The term is also used metaphorically to describe selfless good deeds for others.
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Sacrifice is derived from the Latin word "sacrificium." It is a combination of the words "sacer," which means something set apart from the secular or profane for the use of supernatural powers, and "facere," which means "to make." In other words, sacrifice means to make something holy or pure in worship of the divine.
Humans have sacrificed the life and blood of their own species. They have also sacrificed animals and animals' blood, crops, such as flowers or rice, wine and honey, and many other symbolic offerings. Acts of sacrifice, such as dedicating one's life to God, becoming a monk, priest, nun, or missionary, or fasting or declaring celibacy were also part of religious-spiritual sacrifice.
Sacrifice, in its original meaning, is a ritual whose purpose is to establish or sustain a proper relationship with God, gods, or spirits. It is often performed to bring good fortune or to appease divine wrath kindled by an individual's or humanity's transgressions. In the Christian tradition a sacrifice is the offering of an object by a priest to God alone, and the consuming of it to acknowledge that He is the Creator and Lord of all things. Jesus made the ultimate self-sacrifice. He, the "Son of God," allowed himself to be crucified for the sake of humanity's eternal salvation and redemption from sin.
The more modern and secular interpretation of sacrifice is the giving up of something valuable or important for somebody or something else considered to be of more value or importance. Along these lines millions of veterans have been willing to sacrifice their lives in war in order to defend their country, people, freedom or God. And, uncomfortable as it may be to say it, the Iraqi and Palestinian suicide bombers and the vicious 9/11 terrorists sacrificed their lives in order to harm their enemy by inflicting death and destruction but, above all, for the purpose of instilling fear, vulnerability and uncertainty in the hearts of the enemy. Sacrifice, indeed, has many faces. Sacrifice can be holy or profane, conscious or unconscious, personal or universal, and carefully crafted or utterly blind.
Sacrifice has been carried out by many people in different roles and positions. Millions of compliant parents throughout man's evolution have sacrificed their sons through programming and expecting them to risk and, if necessary, sacrifice their lives for the safety and security of the family, clan, tribe, nation, empire and/or God. Traditionally, there has been great pride in having a hero – even a dead hero - for a son, husband or father.
While many more children were sacrificed by parents in wars than parents who sacrificed themselves for their children, we are more comfortable with the concept of parents sacrificing themselves to save their children. In nature we have the archetypal example in the mother Killdeer bird that pretends to be distressed or to have a broken wing in order to decoy predators away from the nest and thus save her vulnerable young. The movie, Life is Beautiful, gives an almost mythological illustration of a father who sacrifices his life to save his son's.
Sacrificial drama has been a recurring theme in Greco-Judaeo-Christian mythology and tradition. Medea killed her children rather them let them die ignominiously at the hands of King Creon, who sought to revenge himself on her. According to the Old Testament account, Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in order to prove to God his devotion through obedience. Also according to the Old Testament, Jephthah sacrificed his daughter in return for God's leading him to military victory.
In order to avoid a double abomination, Oedipus's parents left him on a hillside to die when he was an infant because the oracle at Delphi had predicted that when he reached maturity, he would kill his father and marry his mother. Many other folk stories describe parents' and stepparents' readiness to kill their children and stepchildren for a cause. Agamemnon of Mycenae sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, at Aulis where he slew her on the temple altar in order to turn the wind so his troops could depart after the fall of Troy.
Sacrifice was manifested in the Greek mythology of Medea. Psychoanalysts have studied what they call, the Medea Complex, which is the mirror image of the Oedipus Complex. While in the Oedipus Complex children have an unconscious wish to kill their parents, in the Medea Complex parents have an unconscious wish to kill their children. Sometimes the Medea Complex has also been called the Isaac Syndrome.
Along the same lines sociologists and historians have noted that the parents, the rulers and the older generation in power have always trained young men to be willing to sacrifice their lives for a variety of causes. Some sociologists and psychologists have viewed wars as expressions of inter-generational tension. According to this view the older generation feels threatened by the younger and, to avoid being supplanted, sacrifice them in battle.
Historically, it has been the kings, rulers, generals, politicians, ministers, senators, in short, the power structure, which is generally composed of people of more advanced years, who send the younger generation to war. The sociologist, Gaston Outhaul, describes wars as an effective mechanism for the older generation to dispose of the best and bravest of the new generation and thereby reduce the immediate threat from the up and coming bright and talented leaders. These well-indoctrinated, idealistic young men fulfill the mandate of purity and wholeness that traditionally has been required of the sacrificial victim.
This dynamic was most apparent in the Vietnam era when the older (parent) generation was deeply disappointed and outraged that many of their draft-aged sons were reluctant to participate in that senseless war. The statistics that wars erupt on an average of every 25 years gives credence to this generational-sacrifice theory and the view of war as ritual infanticide.
Dr. Richard Koenigsberg, who has written extensively on war systems and sacrifice, states:
“The destruction of life and property that occurred on such a vast scale during the Twentieth Century cannot be explained in conventional economic and political terms. To understand these events, we begin by acknowledging that the historical process is governed by profoundly irrational forces.
“In phrases like "the individual must die so that the nation might live" the nation-state is reified, treated not as an idea or social construction, but as if an object that substantially exists. According to the ideology contained within this phrase, countries exist as entities in their own right, separate and distinct from individuals residing within them.
"So pervasive is the ideology of nationalism that one must remind oneself when speaking of "France," "Germany" or "America" that these words refer to ideas or concepts created by human beings rather than to concrete objects that actually exist. To make a statement like "The individual must die so that the nation might live" is to suggest that countries are living creatures, the preservation of which is more significant or valuable than the preservation of actual human lives.
“In war, actual human bodies are sacrificed in the name of perpetuating a magical entity, the body politic. Sacrificial acts function to affirm the reality or existence of this sacred object, the nation. Entering into battle may be characterized as a devotional act, with death in war constituting the supreme act of devotion."
“For the soldier, willingness to enter battle-and if necessary to die-expresses the depth of his devotion to his nation. One may characterize entering battle as a "pledge of allegiance" in its most radical form.
From: Koenigsberg, R.: The Sacrificial Meaning of Warfare
Resources on Sacrifice:
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