HUMAN SACRIFICE

Human sacrifice was a barbarous practice of the ancient world. In civilizations around the globe, people were murdered in ritualized petitions to invisible deities. Their bodies were cut open to ensure a plentiful harvest. Their heads were chopped off to secure an important military victory. They were burnt alive to mollify the community and its angry tribal god.

Such is a world governed by religion. For century after century, humanity was mired in this kind of superstitious violence. And the superstitious violence would have persisted, were it not for the advent of modernity and the age of progress he ushered in.

Consider the civilizing influence of a world governed by freedom of conscience, modern technology, and the secular state. In the ancient world, priests called upon their gods to rain down hellfire on nonbelievers. Today, the priests reside in Langley, the gods respond to keystrokes, and the AGM-114 Hellfire is delivered remotely by drone.