human sacrifice (allusion to Abraham)

[J Kingston Cowart]

At 10:36 AM 4/22/98 -0400, Allen W Thrasher wrote:
>>...one can buy the Kalikapurana in the bazar and find a ritual for human
>>sacrifice in it.
>>
At 09:41 PM 4/22/98 +0500, DEVARAKONDA VENKATA NARAYANA
SARMA wrote:
>I want to remind that human sacrifice (however detestable it may be) is not
>confined only to Hinduism but practically all religions except perhaps
>Buddhism and Jainism. After all Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his
>son but was permitted to sacrifice a ram instead of him.
>
One does well to recall these facts of the Western tradition:  1) it was never
God's intent that Isaac actually be sacrificed; 2) there are no texts in
Judaism,
Christianity, or Islam which specify the conditions and methods of human
sacrifice.  It is indeed proscribed rather than prescribed.

With respect to Hinduism, however, the Kalikapurana does prescribe such
a ritual.

Although the practice in any case marks an aberration today, the textual
difference is, one would think, both obvious and significant.

J. Kingston Cowart
San Diego, California
<jkcowart at io-online.com>