Leviticus again

It's that levitical-sacrificial thing calling again. It's already next week's portion, Vayiqra.

I was thinking about the strangeness to us today of animal sacrifice. Last year, I pointed how both Judaism and Christianity derived central tenets from ancient sacrifice, even while abandoning the practice itself.

Sick as it sounds, the sort of terrorism practiced by al Qa'eda is intended, in part, to be sacrificial, but with humans, not animals. It's derived from Islamic concepts, yet in a completely twisted way.

Muslims (some Muslims, at least) do still practice animal sacrifice for certain holidays. Here's a interesting December 2007 story from NPR about the Eid ul-Adha sacrifice in north Texas - with an unspoken subtext.