Sacrifice. In a religious context the word conjures up thoughts of killing animals or humans in the hopes of pleasing a deity. It could bring thoughts of martyrs or heroes who gave their lives for a cause, for a country or for others. One could sacrifice time or personal belongings. What makes a sacrifice is the giving up or destroying of something valuable, belonging to the person doing the sacrificing – be it an object, time or a life – in the hope it will have a desired effect. Something must be lost if it is to be a sacrifice.
Easter is less than a week away now and to the Christian faith, this is the big day. This is the day in which the sacrifice that god made for his creation (humanity) and the subsequent resurrection is remembered and celebrated. This is the faith I grew up in and the tradition I celebrated; in fact one Easter Sunday I played one of the two thieves being crucified next to Jesus for a pageant my church put on for its congregation of hundreds of people. I believed it all without question. Now as an atheist, I’m looking at these beliefs from a whole new perspective. It is from this new point of view which I can rationally examine the very root of Christianity’s claim of an all-powerful and all-knowing god who supposedly gave something up to give its creation a chance at eternal life.
I’m sure those reading this are familiar with the story of Christ’s crucifixion, but here’s a quick breakdown:
- god inseminates a virgin so it (god) can come into the realm of humans as a human to walk among the humans
- Jesus gathers up disciples & followers over his adult years and teaches things contrary to religious views of the time
- it pisses some rabbis off & they complain to the governor of the district
- Jesus is put on trial and eventually sentenced to death to satisfy the religious leaders,
- he’s hung on the cross, offered some gross stuff to drink (gall & wine), had his legs broken and was finally stabbed in the side by a Roman soldier
- dies (apparently at 3:00 pm on a Friday)
- placed in a tomb with a rock over it
- came back to life three days later and seen by lots of people
- ascended into heaven never to be seen again (except on a towel, toast, and these places)
- is currently sitting at the right hand of god
According to Christianity, this series of events, the entire life and death of Jesus Christ death, was a sacrifice which god made for a desired result: it canceled the old law in which this deity demanded regular sacrifices (animal & otherwise), redeemed all of humanity for humanity’s very first curious disobedient act and provided salvation those who believe in this stuff with a promise of eternal life after death (as well as promise of eternal torture and torment for those who don’t). Without this one single sacrifice, the very core of the religion (and thus its entirety) is shattered. Everything about Christianity is built upon this one tenet.
Having defined what a sacrifice is at the beginning of this post and then recounting the events of Jesus’s life and death, point to what was lost. Point to what god gave up. Point to what was valuable to this deity which could not be recovered.
Perhaps the sacrifice was Jesus’ death, that this deity allowed a tiny part of itself to be killed. Well, that would have been an decent sacrifice, except three days later this god/human came back to life – and in the flesh too, not as an apparition. Nothing lost there, nothing given up.
Perhaps the sacrifice was the body that died or the blood that was spilled? Well that all came back too… the body was apparently re-used since nothing was left in the tomb. I could assume that since the body was working, there was plenty of blood left to re-animate it or maybe new blood was formed? If new blood was formed, then nothing is quite valuable about it. Consider what the price of gold would be if we could just make it on a whim. Once again there’s nothing lost, nothing given up.
Perhaps this deity sacrificed his spot in heaven? The question would then be, was god absent from heaven when it was on the earth? Nope, Jesus kept talking to his father time and time again. Ultimately, after Jesus comes back to life he gets to sit right next to god. Again, nothing lost, nothing given up. In this case, Jesus was besides himself (with joy).
Perhaps he sacrificed his omnipotent powers? If it is to be believed that this same human walked on water, healed the sick, turned water into wine and, oh yeah, brought himself and others back from the dead, then no, powers were not sacrificed.
Conclusion
I see no sacrifice given by an all-powerful being, nothing was really given up. There was nothing on the line – it wasn’t even a gamble, no chance that all could be lost. Jesus’s death was taken back (“Just kidding, guys!”), the body was restored, his powers were present on earth and there wasn’t any chance at losing heaven. Taking an honest look at things, it’s actually underwhelming to have the all powerful god of the universe pull a few parlor tricks then give two choices, “Either you believe or you’ll pay.” It’s not really a choice, is it – it’s a threat. It’s an insecure bully on the playground cracking his knuckles, staring you in the face and waiting for your next move. There was no love in the so-called “sacrifice”, nothing even close. At the very worst, god had a bad weekend. But by Monday it was business as usual.
I’ll leave you with this thought from Ayn Rand:
It stands to reason that where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there’s someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.
– from the “The Soul of a Collectivist”