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Bow Down Before the Gun God

Participation is complicity.

By KJ ThomasPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Ritual human sacrifice has played a wide range of roles in history. Some cultures have believed that a god would simply trade favors for an offering. Some cultures dispatched their offerings as messengers, to carry requests into the afterlife addressing a god or gods directly. The Druids performed ritual human sacrifices as part of divination ritual. In any case, these examples describe a moral system wherein the religious needs of the group outweigh the value of human life. A victory over a neighboring tribe, a bountiful harvest later on in the year, or the successful births of enough babies to keep the group populated all necessary at any cost.

A great spectacle is necessary. Religious rituals must always capture the attention of the masses, and keep them enthralled, keep them coming back for more and more religious ecstasy. Great fires and feasts must take place. In some cases, the sacrifice itself might make an appearance as part of the feast. In other cases, the sacrifice is exclusively for the gods. Sometimes the individual to be sacrificed is made into an exalted figure, given great privileges before being dispatched. Sometimes their bodies are displayed afterwards as idols themselves. Sometimes the bodies are destroyed as part of the ritual and sometimes preserved.

The American Gun-Cult has incorporated an element of mystery into their sacrifices, in that the sacrifice’s identity isn’t known until after the killing has already happened. The priesthood of this cult maintains secrecy even of their own identities, until the time comes for them to perform their violent ritual. They quietly purchase their supplies through both legal and illegal supply chains, avoiding detection. A rifle from a gun show. Ammunition from an online source. The priest of death bides his time.

The priesthood of this cult is almost exclusively white and male. Their targets are selfishly chosen: groups of people who’ve defied white-supremacy, or patriarchy, simply by existing. These can include schools, concerts or dances. Venues where open sexuality is practiced are especially prized targets. On the rare occasion when a priest belongs to a non-white or other minority demographic, the targets in the killings especially adhere to this pattern. A school and support center for the disabled. A music venue focused on gay or lesbian socializing. These are special cases. The vast majority of mass human sacrifices committed by the Gun Cult are committed by white men or boys whose primary motivation is retribution against those who do not recognize their superiority. These sacrificial victims are members of the populace who have the audacity to go about their lives without recognizing that particular Priest’s superiority by virtue of his whiteness or gender.

But the shooting is only the very beginning of the ritual. The next step is the media spectacle, the most immediate analog to the ancient Druid fires and divination. The sacrificial victims are exalted with candlelight vigils, makeshift memorials, and public displays of tears. Many individuals make public declarations to stop or at least reduce the killing but these are ceremonial gestures only. They don’t seriously challenge the legitimacy of the Gun Cult. In some cases the victims may be given elaborate funerals, ornate coffins, and eulogies or other attention from public officials. The family members of the victims are given private meetings with public officials, where hollow and meaningless promises will be made to do justice, but these public officials have no power and no inclination to challenge the ultimate power of the Gun Cult.

The members of the Gun Cult frequently make ovations to other religions, mostly old, dead religions who can never challenge gun supremacy. The priesthood can always count on its believers to protect its interests at all costs. The public displays of mourning following a sacrifice feed into the priesthood’s power, by highlighting the pain it causes and the pain it will continue to get away with. The members of this cult don’t just have blood on their hands, they revel in blood. Contradictions abound, with believers expressing regret, but the proof is shown over and over in shooting after shooting. These gun people don’t value human life and they won’t change their minds.

satire
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About the Creator

KJ Thomas

I'm chasing after whatever this whole thing is building to. You can talk back to me here: https://agnostic.com/member/KJThomas and my profile artwork was made by my good friend Tabitha: https://www.instagram.com/tabithaslander/

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