The savage made sacrifices to his idols, that is, he paid tribute,
chiefly out of fear, but partly in the hope of getting something better
in return. The modern does not offer human or animal sacrifice, it is
true; but it must be borne in mind that the wealth of the savage
consisted of his sheep, oxen, oils, and wines, not money. Today, the
devout offer a sacrifice of money to the Deity. We are all familiar with
the requests of religious institutions for gifts, which nearly always
finish with the phrase, "And the Lord will repay you many fold." In
other words, sacrifice part of your worldly goods to the idol, and he
will repay with high interest. He will give in return long life and much
riches. The savage was afraid to utter the real name of his god, it was
taboo. The modern says, "Take not the name of the Lord in vain." Even
today, the followers of Moses consider it taboo to utter the name of
Jehovah except in prayer.
The present-day methods of worship are no different from those of the
savage; the method of supplication has changed with the advance of the
years, but the fundamental ideas at the base of all worship are just as
crude today as they were 4000 years ago. Primitive man was no more a
fetishist than is the modern Catholic. The latter still wears medals and
images suspended from the neck and pinned to the inner clothing.
Moreover, a survey of the various religions extant indicates that the
religious factor is no less prevalent today than it was in primitive
societies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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