Is it a sacrifice?

Incidentally:
if or when an Indian sacrificed himself or his neighbors
to the gods, just WHAT were those gods supposed to DO
with him or his neighbors ?

Bad question.

Re: Is it a sacrifice?


The term "sacrifice" probably has more meaning to the survivor and is useful as a subjective term. Did Jesus willingly give up his life? Probably not, but his sacrifice as such remains a central theme of Christianity.

The plains indians relied on the bison for most of there necesities, and it formed the center of their religions. They definitely believed that the bison sacrificed their lives for them, and they performed elaborate rituals in their honor, whereas the bison themselves would have avoided death at all cost.

Devotion to a cause does not necessarily result in physical death but it could and devotion in the extreme could cause loss of many things such as family, friends, money.

If death occurs in the midst of a passionate experience it seems a worthwhile result. The definition of the nature of the act or a specific word is left for those left behind. What "they" think seems not relevant to me.

Bad answer.

ODavid, you're right. My answer is also bad; we are talking past each other, no communication at least on this topic.

Coluber. Good point. I would interpret the plains Indian's ritual activities on behalf of the bison as an expression of reciprocity. In exchange for the bisons' lives the Indians give them rituals of appreciation. The exchange is sacred.

Thanks, JL.

We must also consider that when a person is drafted into the military, perhaps against his will, and then is killed or maimed we still say that he sacrificed his life for his country. The victim's attitude doesn't come into it.
Can you imagine a president saying on Veteran's Day? "We honor those brave men and women who willingly sacrificed their lives for their country, but not those who died against their will." When you get right down to it very few if any willingly sacrificed their lives; they fought to stay alive to the last second.

As General George Patton explained it:

the idea is NOT to give your life for your country;
it is to make the enemy give HIS life for HIS country.

Of course when we think of sacrifice we must consider maternal sacrifice, which is one of the most powerful biological imperatives. One of the most poignant examples I can think of is the timber rattlesnake, which in order to reporduce (from a study in Penn.) goes a whole year without eating. Check out my thread here for more information. Scroll down to timber rattlesnake: http://www.able2know.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23556&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=130