No, actually, child sacrifice is violent

The article is on CBS News: "Ancient altar found in Guatemala jungle apparently used for sacrifices, 'especially of children,' archaeologists say."

The article is about the discovery of an altar from the Teotihuacan culture in Tikal National Park in Guatemala, the center of Mayan culture. The Teotihucan culture was centered more to the north, closer to Mexico City, so this discovery proves some sort of "sociopolitical and cultural interaction between the Maya of Tikal and Teotihuacan's elite between 300 and 500 A.D."

According to the linked article, Lorena Paiz, the archaeologist who led the discovery, said that the Teotihuacan altar was believed to have been used for sacrifices, "especially of children." The remains of three children, no more than than four years old, were found on three sides of the altar, according to a quote from Paiz in the article.

Quoting directly, now, from the article:

María Belén Méndez, an archaeologist who was not involved with the project, said the discovery confirms "that there has been an interconnection between both cultures and what their relationships with their gods and celestial bodies was like."

"We see how the issue of sacrifice exists in both cultures. It was a practice; it's not that they were violent, it was their way of connecting with the celestial bodies," she said.

No.

Killing little children is violent. Period. Full stop. People who would countenance the killing of little children are violent. Period. Full stop.

Perhaps Belén Méndez made such a ridiculous statement because she doesn't want people to dismiss either the Mayan or Teotihuacan cultures as uncivilized. The existence of their ruined cities is more than sufficient evidence that these cultures achieved a type of civilization. In addition to building cities, they made advances in astronomy, developed an intricate and accurate calendar, and made discoveries in agriculture, allowing them to feed large populations in a jungle (albeit possibly triggering, at least in the case of the Maya, a climate catastrophe that brought their civilization crashing down).

But if we must acknowledge that these were civilizations, we must also admit that these were violent civilizations. They murdered little children. I cannot fathom why there is a perceived need to sugarcoat this obvious fact.

I suppose this desire to paper-over-the-child-sacrifice business may come from a need to denigrate the Christian, European civilization that ultimately displaced these cultures: At least in academic circles, the Mesoamerican cultures must be considered as at least morally equivalent, if not, indeed, superior to the bad, evil, European colonizers.

Horsefeathers.

The intellectual sophistication and intelligence of some of the indigenous leaders over the barely-literate younger sons of perpetually impoverished Extremaduran noblemen may be conceded without hesitation -- but Christian Eurpoean civilization did not demand child sacrifice. In that sense, clearly, Christian European civilization was superior to the cultures it displaced. At least, it was superior to those cultures which killed little children (even if it was just "their way of connecting with the celestial bodies").

At least our civilization was superior until recently....