What a wonderful narrative work of art. You have once again done a fantastic animated collage and a great illustration at the same time. 👍
Very well done!
I am very interested in the Mayan topic and loved to read a lot about it.
As bad and evil as it is that they sacrificed children, I was never surprised they did.
Because they were not the only culture that practiced this kind of cruelty and the Mayans have existed long enough to start it once. It's quite possible that it was also their downfall.
Rather, we can find traces of cannibalism all over the world, in all cultures, by all kinds of people, in all times. For many cultures, it even was not long ago.
I think our "common consensus" about the evilness of such behavior is only a very thin and very fragile layer in our current moral codes.
The past teaches us again and again how important it is to cultivate and protect ethical values.
I hope that this will always be the case and not that the past will someday serve as a template for solutions.
Folks start doing evil things by conviction. Convictions can also be cultivated. Fear is often the key.
Let's imagine that some kind of end-time cult would arise and came to the conclusion that there were too many people on this planet and that we would all die if we did not reduce the world's population. It could spread quickly via the social media. Many a politicians might even smell votes in it.
End-timers would start lobbying for political solutions such as birth control. Soon, very enthusiastic end-timers would start promoting forced abortions worldwide. It would not take many weeks for some people to think that this is not enough. Euthanasia of the elderly and a certain number of children would then be just a small step.
Nowadays, all this could also be done in such a way that no one would notice it. Until...
A big hug for you @agmoore. :-)
Thank you my friend, @quantumg for your kind words about my collage. If you like it, I am happy.😇
As you probably know, I am quite comfortable with history. It was once my chosen field of study, so finding these images and creating the blog was an enjoyable exercise for me.
The children.
When I think of the ways that children are sacrificed, even today. So maybe we don't strangle them, or bury them alive, but they are sacrificed for economic necessity. They starve, slow deaths, by the millions. Or the children who are worked to death. The children who are murdered as part of military campaigns.
Were these ancient people so different? No.
You mention euthanasia. How far is that from the eugenics movement, or even the vast numbers of elderly who are confined today against their will in so-called nursing homes.
We have to always be alert to how self-interest, or ideology, will give us permission to do what we believe may be unthinkable.
As always, a thoughtful response from you. I can imagine the interesting conversations you have with your wife.
A hug back my friend.