89:0.2 The [[savage]] was early possessed with the notion that spirits derive supreme [[satisfaction]] from the sight of [[human]] misery, [[suffering]], and [[humiliation]]. At first, man was only concerned with sins of commission, but later he became exercised over sins of omission. And the whole subsequent [[sacrificial]] [[system]] grew up around these two [[ideas]]. This new [[ritual]] had to do with the [[observance]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propitiation propitiation] [[ceremonies]] of [[sacrifice]]. [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_52#52:1._PRIMITIVE_MAN Primitive man] believed that something special must be done to win the [[favor]] of the gods; only advanced [[civilization]] recognizes a consistently even-tempered and [[benevolent]] [[God]]. Propitiation was insurance against [[immediate]] ill [[luck]] rather than investment in [[future]] [[bliss]]. And the [[rituals]] of avoidance, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exorcism exorcism], [[coercion]], and propitiation all merge into one another. | 89:0.2 The [[savage]] was early possessed with the notion that spirits derive supreme [[satisfaction]] from the sight of [[human]] misery, [[suffering]], and [[humiliation]]. At first, man was only concerned with sins of commission, but later he became exercised over sins of omission. And the whole subsequent [[sacrificial]] [[system]] grew up around these two [[ideas]]. This new [[ritual]] had to do with the [[observance]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propitiation propitiation] [[ceremonies]] of [[sacrifice]]. [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_52#52:1._PRIMITIVE_MAN Primitive man] believed that something special must be done to win the [[favor]] of the gods; only advanced [[civilization]] recognizes a consistently even-tempered and [[benevolent]] [[God]]. Propitiation was insurance against [[immediate]] ill [[luck]] rather than investment in [[future]] [[bliss]]. And the [[rituals]] of avoidance, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exorcism exorcism], [[coercion]], and propitiation all merge into one another. |