1.    Dying and Killing to Establish the Reality of a Sacred Ideal. Koenigsberg's Law of Sacrifice. Human beings die and kill to establish the reality of a sacred idea or ideal. Killing and dying are undertaken to prove "the truth." Political violence (war, genocide, terrorism) is undertaken when doubts arise as to the validity of a society's sacred ideal.

2.    Killing and dying constitute a demonstration of sincerity. That which we die for becomes real or true. The nature of the entity or idea for which human beings die, and kill is fungible. The mechanism is the same, regardless of the nature of the idea: death--and memorials erected in the name of those who have died testify to the reality of the entity or ideal. Death and memorialization perform a validation function.

3.    Human violence has nothing to do with "biological" aggression. Quite the contrary, it is performed in the name of abstract ideas and ideals. Human violence separates us from other animals, who kill for practical (biological) reasons (in the name of survival). We prove that we are human (another kind of animal) by dying and killing for abstract ideas.