The murder of human beings as part of a religious ritual has been most widely adopted by agricultural rather than hunting or pastoral peoples. Sacrifice would be made to encourage soil fertility or as a form of ancestor worship. Victims include kings, slaves, criminals and children. Human sacrifice may take a more insidious form in civilized societies when necessary changes encounter political and other forms of resistance until one or more lives have been sacrificed.
Human sacrifice existed in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Iran, India, China and Japan, Greece and Rome. It formed part of the annual rituals of the Aztec and Inca civilizations. In China up until the 17th century, a king's retinue was buried with him. In India up until the 19th century, the followers of Kali sacrificed a male child every week. Also in India, the practice of suttee (suicide of a deceased man's wife on his funeral pyre) survived until the 19th century. The North American Pawnee Indians used to sacrifice girls to fertilize the soil. From the 12th century onwards claims have been made that the Jews sacrificed Christian children at the passover. In Czech lands, Jews were accused of ritual murder (blood libel) in Kojetín (1892), in Kolín, Holesov, Chocen and Prague (1893) and in Moravská Trebová (1896), for example. The last accusation of this kind was made by the Russian Government in 1911, but the accused was acquitted.
Human sacrifice is still believed to exist among certain tribes in Africa. In its more insidious form in civilized societies, the introduction of much new legislation affecting the condition of people can only be formulated, and only acquires credibility, after lives have been sacrificed. Examples include legislation affecting health and safety. In 1993 a group of anti-dam activists in India threatened to commit mass suicide if the project was not reviewed.
Human beings are being sacrificed in ritual killings, such as, those committed by the Charles Manson gang and the Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo cult. They are sacrificed in India to ensure good harvests and in Liberia and other west African countries to help the advancement of politicians. Lives are sacrificed for the advancement of causes: the liberation of Palestine, the race to the moon, testing medicines, opposing apartheid and stopping war.