Throughout history, the ritual of sacrifice has been employed as an attempt to appease angry, jealous gods. Human sacrifice was prevalent in many ancient cultures and remnants of that practice are still evident in the core traditions of both Judaism and Christianity. Animal sacrifice was the primary focus of Jewish ritual until the destruction of the Second Temple. In many parts of the world, inanimate objects of importance as well as grains and other agricultural products are still offered up to the powers that be.
The sacrifice is an intentional offering of something valuable, something that will be perceived by the gods as a capitulation, an homage, an appeasement, something that will appeal to their vanity and allow the sacrificers to go on about their business free of the retribution and meddling that those powerful and capricious beings might otherwise have imposed upon them. The sacrifice must be voluntary, it must be painful and it must be convincing enough to dissuade those to whom it is made from their course. But in the long run, it must not interfere with the plans or intentions of those making it. It is simply a decoy.
By now it's probably pretty clear where I'm headed with this. I've been awed over the past week by the wide-eyed gullibility with which much of the world has embraced Saddam Hussein's casual sacrifice of his Al-Samud missiles. Can anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with this man's behavior over the past dozen years seriously doubt that this little production was planned in advance, up to and including the brief protestations for which Dan Rather was generous enough to provide a platform? Does anyone really believe that this carefully calculated "surrender" is anything more than a ritual designed to fool those willing to be fooled and to complicate life for those who are not?
To the sacrificial performance with which Saddam has taken such pains to regale us, I say, Bravo! Well done! Good show! Standing ovation!
But the show's over. Now let's please get on with the business at hand, before it's too late.
