Introduction
Child sacrifice is the subject of universal contemporary condemnation. Indeed, anyone seeking to defend the concept of child sacrifice in public intercourse would be roundly rebuked (Rundin, 2004) . However, the condemnation of the concept is often made without making a careful evaluation of what it entails. One of the most complex subjects in world history is the issue of love since it is an unquantifiable entity. Further, love has been credited for good or bad things with equal measure even in the current times. For example, extreme provocation through the attack of a loved one is considered as an absolute defense for murder in most jurisdictions. From a historical perspective, child sacrifice has taken place in many cultures and nations. A common trend among the traditional cultures that practiced child sacrifice was superiority over surrounding cultures (Rundin, 2004) . Further, child sacrifice has been seen to bear congruency among cultures that have nothing in common creating the impression that has a primal connotation. This research paper critically analyzes the concept of child sacrifice based on the hypothesis that the practice has been condemned unheard.
Historical Background
Child sacrifice has been taking place in different parts of the world and at different times spanning from antiquity to the 21 st century. Among the oldest records relating to child sacrifice regard the remains of a child that were found at the Great Hedge in Europe. The child was too young to require an excessive use of force for subjugation but its skull had been crushed with an axe. Contemporary researchers still try to understand how the stone hedge came into being, a sign that it came from an ancient civilization. This is an indication of a traditional culture that was extremely advanced. Other records of child sacrifice can the found in the bible. Child sacrifice is shown to have been banned my Moses, who is indicated to have lived around 1400 BCE. The history of Moses relates to areas around Egypt and Mesopotamia which were the greatest civilizations of all times (Smith, 2013) . This is also a connection between child sacrifice and major civilization.
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Other known areas where child sacrifice was practiced include Phoenicia and Carthage around the first centuries CE. At this time, this was among the greatest civilizations in the world, competing for global domination with Rome. More recently child sacrifices were found to have been carried out in South America among the Incas, Mayas, and Aztec, which were some of the most advanced cultures towards the end of the medieval period when Europeans ventured into the Americas (Johnson & Vizenor, 2015) . In the 21 st century, reports have associated the nation of Uganda, commonly referred to as the Pearl of Africa and Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa with child Sacrifices (Igwe, 2016) . All these historical examples show child sacrifices being done by major civilizations, not barbarians.
The Concept of Love as the Reason for Child Sacrifice
The most controversial bible history is in the book of Genesis chapter twenty-two how much Abraham loves God was tested. The God in question is the one who forms the basis for Christianity, Islam, and Jewish religions are based. Abraham was given a test to assess his love for God (Chilton, 2007) . In the test, God demanded that Abraham sacrifices his only child Isaac and offer Him as a burnt sacrifice to show his love for God. Albeit it was a painful decision, the bible records that Abraham chose his love for God over his love for Isaac and elected to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. As at the time that God intervened, Abraham had a knife to the throat of Isaac ready to kill and burn him up as a sacrifice.
Among the three aforesaid religions of Christianity, Islam and the Jewish religions, Abraham is hailed as a true prophet and servant of God and the story of the intended sacrifice is told as a tribute to Abraham (Chilton, 2007) . This creates the impression that the love for the particular being that an individual considers as god ought to be much greater than the love that one has for children. From this perspective, therefore, a child sacrifice premised purely on genuine love for god and based on the biblical example ought to be lauded and not condemned. Unless of course double standards are being applied discriminating some religions as barbaric and others as divine. This would make for an unfair scholarly approach to the subject.
The Concept of Consequentialism and/or desperation as justification for Child Sacrifice
Consequentialism is a normative ethics philosophical theory that considers that a decision or action should be judged as right or wrong based on the outcome thereof. Therefore, under this theory , an action should not be judged through the process but based on the outcome. Most child sacrifices conducted traditionally were meant to appease gods whose input influence was necessary for the survival of the human species (Johnson & Vizenor, 2015) . For example, it was and still is the genuine belief of many communities and cultures that gods cause rains. Traditionally, rain was much more important than it is today because people relied on the land for subsistence. Without the rains, the entire community would perish including all the children. Under the circumstance, the communities believed that appeasing the gods using a child sacrifice was the only option for getting rains (Johnson & Vizenor, 2015) . Instead of letting all the children die, this community would opt to pick one child and sacrifice in order to save the rest of the children. The sacrifice could also have been undertaken out of desperation because not doing anything would lead to death by starvation which is much worse than the most sadistic sacrificial ritual.
A contrary Argument
It can, however, be argued that the sacrificing of children was an opportunistic and discriminatory option premised on their haplessness. This argument would take the dimension that since the adults made all the decisions in the community, having a grown up as a fitting sacrifice would create an allowance for the decision makers including the priest to be the sacrificial ram literally. As a means of self-preservation, the adults would decide that the fitting sacrifice acceptable to the gods must be a child, a choice that would give them immunity. Further to this argument, it can also be said that child sacrifice was made for the sadistic pleasure of those who made the sacrifice (Igwe, 2016) .
Conclusion
It would be difficult to countermand any of the three arguments about child sacrifice. It is possible and even likely that child sacrifice was as a result of a love for god so great that man was willing to give what was most beloved. It is also possible that child sacrifice was an issue of picking one child and opting to sacrifice it in an effort to save the entire community purely based on faith. However, it is also possible and very probable that child sacrifice was based on a sadistic desire to enjoy the killing of children or a selfish effort for self-protection at the expense of hapless children. The facts that none of the three theories about child sacrifice can be roundly countermanded yet some are positive and others negative, it is correct to indicate that a round condemnation of child sacrifice is premised on the lack of proper consideration of the undying factors. Discourse the subject of child sacrifice should, therefore, be more objective and not based on blanket condemnation.
References
Chilton, B. (2007). Abraham's Curse: Child Sacrifice in the Legacies of the West. Publishers Weekly , 254 (45), 51
Igwe, L. (2016). Ritual killing and pseudoscience in Nigeria. Skeptical Inquirer
Johnson, M., & Vizenor, E. (2015). 5 Evil and Sacrifice in Native North American Literature. Twenty-First Century Perspectives on Indigenous Studies: Native North America in (Trans) Motion , 1 , 84
Rundin , J. S. (2004). Pozo Moro, Child Sacrifice, and the Greek Legendary Tradition. Journal of Biblical Literature , 123 (3), 425-447
Smith, J. B. (2013). Canaanite Child Sacrifice, Abortion, and the Bible. Journal of Ministry & Theology , 17 (2), 90-125
