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Human Sacrifice Today
A report by Andrew Blankley, Ph.D., APEC research sociologist
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A wake-up call to the world!
Because of the possibility of a sacrificial cult being involved in the so-called Vampire Moon incident, The American Psychological Evaluation Corporation has been retained by the United States Department of Justice to compile a study of human sacrifice in modern industrial society. Our conclusions are sobering and provocative. We believe that this report may serve as a warning for civilized society as we know it.
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Human sacrifice is more popular than you think.
The cornerstone of all religion is sacrifice. And the most potent form of sacrifice is human sacrifice. Human sacrifice still exists, but has been supplanted with benign symbolism in most religions. Many modern religions continue to espouse human sacrifice, albeit in non-specific terms. Some well-known religions are based on the historical sacrifice of a single individual as a token appeasement for the deity, who then extended his protection to the entire group. Some religious observances still include ritual cannibalism and pretended blood drinking. Herein lies the danger. Behavioral studies have shown that such apparently harmless rituals can serve as a stepping stone to literal observance. Those who pretend to be cannibals may not so far from the real thing.
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Human sacrifice is on the rise.
The APEC study monitored 872 religions, cults, orders, and societies. Of these 381 were formed within the past five years. Of the latter group, 58 were organizations that espouse or feature human sacrifice. Previous studies of such groups have revealed a 285 percent rise in the number of human sacrifice-friendly groups since 1991. The explosion of so-called "New Age" religions and the growing popularity of parlor divinations such as table tipping, astrology, and nephrology point to a quasi-mystical frenzy sweeping the world. Seeking answers in arcane mysticism and nonrational behavior is generally regarded as a stress reaction induced by the complexities of modern industrial society. But the growing popularity of human sacrifice is not easily explained by any standard sociological model.
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Ancient human sacrifice beliefs still survive.
Ancient human sacrifice belief systems survive mostly in ritualistic and non-industrial societies. Since human sacrifice is universally outlawed, these rites are practiced in secret, and the ceremonies generally involve stealth and ambush. Sacrificial victims are almost always members of opposing tribes or personal enemies. These primitive groups represent less that 10 percent of the human-sacrifice-friendly groups surveyed, and in comparison with modern urban believers, seem almost benign.
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Blood rites are still widely practiced!
Among third-world nations with large impoverished populations, ancient traditions of human sacrifice survive and are often assimilated by succeeding generations into conventional religious and social behavior. An example of a hold-over belief in human sacrifice are the primitive sacrificial beliefs carried from deep inside Africa and Malaysia. Human sacrifice was transplanted into the local third world superstitions, and flourishes today in "underground" religions. Little has been known about these fraternities outside of their own cultural arenas. However, their beliefs have been carried by immigrants into urban centers, where they have gained new adherents among city dwellers. The result may be seen in the alarming upswing of ritual murders in many of the Third World's largest cities.
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Beware of the brotherhood of death.
Occult orders have long held that human sacrifice is the most efficient means of obtaining mystical power, whether used to sate the appetite of entities or as a payment for supernatural services. In this context, human sacrifice falls into the category of diabolism, a belief system in which an act of evil confers magical power, and the murder gives the ultimate power of life and death.
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Ancient evils wear modern masks!
Nazism is an example of an old world tradition of worship cleverly reorganized and reprocessed into a modern political cult. Nazism uses human sacrifice as an outlet for bigotry and narcissism, secretly performing rituals in which mass murder is the central sacrament. Aztecism, another new phenomenon with ancient roots, has quickly blossomed into a disturbing and powerful subversive religious organization. Started online as a joke, this belief system contends that the Aztec empire fell because of a drop in the number of human sacrifices offered in the Temple of the Sun. NeoAztecs believe that human sacrifices performed in the original Aztec tradition will resurrect Qetzalcoatl, the Aztec's chief deity, who will restore the Aztec empire. Sustained through mass human sacrifice, Mexico will rule again.
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Spontaneously occurring death worship.
In excessively violent societies, such as those found in many urban environments throughout the world, murder has become a means of self-expression and accomplishment. It is a short journey for the act to become enshrined in religious relevance. The prevalence of gangs and the easy availability of firearms make death cults inevitable. The cheapness of life in such a society, plus the human tendency to link occurrences into patterns of cause and effect, ensure that given the proper circumstances, murder will spontaneously take the form of a religious rite.
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Human sacrifice is a growing social problem.
Public and government officials must be made aware of the danger. Steps must be taken to guard against sacrificial murders. All suspicious religious and fraternal organizations must be monitored and investigated by appropriate government agencies. APEC concludes that more funding for research and investigation is desperately needed. Time is short and the danger is real.
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