A Critical Routinization of the Cultural-Anthropologcial Development of Sacrifice

Abstract

Sacrifice is an important phenomenon in almost every religion. Religion, an aspect of culture, situates sacrifice within the realm of human culture. The human person believes in a communication with the other world, which is acclaimed to be higher and more powerful. This communication could be affected by the phenomenon of sacrifice, which is performed by humans for a deity or deities. The importance of sacrifice is seen in the fact that it has ceased to remain only in the ambience of religion. In the course of centuries, especially in recent times, it has cut across the different aspects of culture to be applied in every domain of human life. This phenomenon seems to be always in the form of becoming. This evolution in the description of sacrifice is the main interest of this paper. Beginning with an introduction to the theme, the phenomenon of sacrifice would be rationalized in a culturalanthropological manner with its different aspects, understandings and misunderstandings. While some theories of sacrifice would be offered, the attempt at giving it a home (routinization) in the different aspects of life would be undertaken, which underlines the evolutional development of this phenomenon.