Maya Sacrifice broke the law

Long long time ago, they said. Maya indians sacrficed in religion, i believe, they sentenced people to death because they broke the law. Today we have state in the USA, it sentence people to death, and executes them. Same thing.

a reply to: BaldPete

Do you have any proof of this? Or is it simply a belief?

a reply to: Noinden

i read a book by nietzche, he said, one culture is the law. Break law in culture , punish

a reply to: BaldPete

show links to why that is, how does the Mayan sacrifices have anything at all to do with US as of now?

a reply to: malevolent

America is very strange, they have strange culture, they like fear, and punish with culture

a reply to: BaldPete

Nietzche is not an expert on Mayan culture. Could it be that a sacrifice is just that? Historically it is not unheard of.

a reply to: Noinden

maybe, if people are stupid, we sacrifice. But people not stupid only those who break cultural law

a reply to: BaldPete

sounds to me like you are afraid for some reason, however do not place all americans in your little biased opinion no person is the same as the other, its individually

originally posted by: BaldPete
Long long time ago, they said. Maya indians sacrficed in religion, i believe, they sentenced people to death because they broke the law. Today we have state in the USA, it sentence people to death, and executes them. Same thing.

You believe wrongly. There is evidence that the Mayans held human sacrifices, but the victims were likely prisoners of war. This was not punishment for crimes committed. It is true that several states in the US do have the death penalty. People who commit horrible crimes are sometimes sentenced to death after a judicial process. Many people want the death penalty eliminated for various reasons, but to claim the Mayan sacrifices are the "same thing" is simply not true--even a little bit. You can read a little bit about sacrifice in Mayan culture here.

I'm guessing you are not a native English speaker, so I'm not going to criticize you on your presentation and I trust no one else will either, but you still need to do a better job of documenting your claim if you're going to be taken seriously. Because right now you are simply spouting an unsupported opinion.

a reply to: BaldPete

It is bad to kill as a punishment. It is better to lock someone up for life, keep them away from society. Wanting revenge is not a reason to kill; revenge is poison in the heart and soul.

Not all Americans like fear and unjust punishment. But, yes, one can say that it seems nowadays American culture likes fear and punishment. I know one family that won't let their children read Harry Potter books, because they believe them to be Satanic, but they let the children see violent movies. I don't understand.

originally posted by: BaldPete
a reply to: Noinden

maybe, if people are stupid, we sacrifice. But people not stupid only those who break cultural law

that has nothing to do with a death sentence in the US and a sacrifice in the mayan time. you should really try to learn a little more about some things

originally posted by: desert
a reply to: BaldPete

It is bad to kill as a punishment. It is better to lock someone up for life, keep them away from society. Wanting revenge is not a reason to kill; revenge is poison in the heart and soul.

Not all Americans like fear and unjust punishment. But, yes, one can say that it seems nowadays American culture likes fear and punishment. I know one family that won't let their children read Harry Potter books, because they believe them to be Satanic, but they let the children see violent movies. I don't understand.

and what is so wrong with having a death penalty for those people that commit the crimes that it is justified for? if you give them life without parole they just eat up the taxpayers money sitting in a cell

a reply to: schuyler

You should read more on the Mayan and Aztec cultures. The Mayans also sacrificed those who considered it a great honor to be sacrificed...for you to be a chosen one. Not punished one.

WINNING ball game teams were sacrificed...because they were the best having won. And the team considered it the highest honor to be sacrificed.

Hardly a punishment.

We should not confuse the religious aspect of Mayan culture with their legal aspect. Yes, the Mayans did have the death penalty for crimes.

Under the Maya legal system, punishments for various crimes were severe. Murder, rape, incest, treachery, arson, and acts that offended the gods were punishable by death. However, the Maya distinguished between intentional and accidental acts. For example, individuals who were found guilty of homicide were sentenced to death. However, if a killing was accidental, the perpetrator was ordered to pay restitution or sell one of his slaves to the victim’s family. If the perpetrator was a minor, he would be ordered into slavery. Theft crimes were punished with restitution or temporary enslavement. The sentences of slavery and restitution were not limited to the perpetrator, but were also passed on to his family members. Maya homes were subject to special protection because they did not have doors. Individuals who entered homes to cause damage or injure others were sentenced to death. Nobles who were found guilty of crimes were treated especially harsh and were forced to have their faces permanently tattoed as a symbol of their crimes.

Adultery was considered a criminal offense. Married women who committed adultery were publicly shamed and their lovers were stoned to death. Their husbands had the option of leaving the marriage and finding a new spouse. Married men who committed adultery were sentenced to death unless their extra-marital affair was with an unmarried woman.

Pardons were available for criminals. Adulterers could avoid punishment by being pardoned by the injured husband, and families of murder victims could demand restitution in lieu of capital punishment.

Tarlton Law Library


a reply to: malevolent

The legal costs to fight their penalty eats up tax money. The death penalty does not deter crime. If tax dollar savings is reason to kill people, then who is next on the list?

pdf source:

N e w R e p o r t S h o w s S t a t e s C a n S a v e H u n d r e d s o f M i l l i o n s b y A b o l i s h i n g t h e D e a t h P e n a l t y

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: schuyler

You should read more on the Mayan and Aztec cultures. The Mayans also sacrificed those who considered it a great honor to be sacrificed...for you to be a chosen one. Not punished one.

WINNING ball game teams were sacrificed...because they were the best having won. And the team considered it the highest honor to be sacrificed.

Hardly a punishment.

Excuse me, but you're lumping two different cultures together. You should learn to distinguish between the two. There is no evidence that the Mayans sacrificed for ball games. That was Aztec.

You do me a disservice, sir.

And BTW, for whatever reason, OP is no longer with us.

originally posted by: desert
We should not confuse the religious aspect of Mayan culture with their legal aspect. Yes, the Mayans did have the death penalty for crimes.

Under the Maya legal system, punishments for various crimes were severe. Murder, rape, incest, treachery, arson, and acts that offended the gods were punishable by death. However, the Maya distinguished between intentional and accidental acts. For example, individuals who were found guilty of homicide were sentenced to death. However, if a killing was accidental, the perpetrator was ordered to pay restitution or sell one of his slaves to the victim’s family. If the perpetrator was a minor, he would be ordered into slavery. Theft crimes were punished with restitution or temporary enslavement. The sentences of slavery and restitution were not limited to the perpetrator, but were also passed on to his family members. Maya homes were subject to special protection because they did not have doors. Individuals who entered homes to cause damage or injure others were sentenced to death. Nobles who were found guilty of crimes were treated especially harsh and were forced to have their faces permanently tattoed as a symbol of their crimes.

Adultery was considered a criminal offense. Married women who committed adultery were publicly shamed and their lovers were stoned to death. Their husbands had the option of leaving the marriage and finding a new spouse. Married men who committed adultery were sentenced to death unless their extra-marital affair was with an unmarried woman.

Pardons were available for criminals. Adulterers could avoid punishment by being pardoned by the injured husband, and families of murder victims could demand restitution in lieu of capital punishment.

Tarlton Law Library


a reply to: malevolent

The legal costs to fight their penalty eats up tax money. The death penalty does not deter crime. If tax dollar savings is reason to kill people, then who is next on the list?

pdf source:

N e w R e p o r t S h o w s S t a t e s C a n S a v e H u n d r e d s o f M i l l i o n s b y A b o l i s h i n g t h e D e a t h P e n a l t y

it doesn't stop the crime but it does punish those that have committed it. i don't think your wrong but i also think you are not right that the taxpayers should use their money to support a criminal

a reply to: BaldPete

Sacrifice has nothing to do with stupidity. It is a mater of faith. My ancestors did it, your ancestors did it. They were NOT stupid. Stop using modern morality judgement standards, on actions of antiquity, unless you KNOW that culture found it abhorrent.

originally posted by: BaldPete
Long long time ago, they said. Maya indians sacrficed in religion, i believe, they sentenced people to death because they broke the law. Today we have state in the USA, it sentence people to death, and executes them. Same thing.

Some misinterpret the relief carvings on temples/ball fields and within those rare Codex preserved writings; are this: what the Maya were actually depicting was a 'warning' NOT to do THIS! (blood sacrifices).

a reply to: BaldPete

I would not put any credence in Nietzche, like freud he was a weirdo, freud fancied his mom and Nietzche fancied his sister so definitely not normal, with Culture come's law and often it come's with religion.
There is no evidence linking Mayan sacrifice to criminal's however there is a lot of evidence of war's between the different Maya city state's often it appears in order to take people for just this purpose, lose the war and end up as slaves and sacrificial victim's.

What goes on in the USA is inhuman in many cases but in some it is better than the murderer's and psychopath's deserve, by taking there lives however they had stopped them from thinking on what they have done, better to rot in a cell thinking on the victim whose life they have ruined except that some of these criminal's are not like normal people, they can not see the wrong they have done and value no one but themselves very much like most of today's politicians with the exception they often are not as clever as there political counterpart's.

a reply to: schuyler

Yes, I did lump them together as did some other replies to this thread. Other repliers mentioned the Myan sacrifices as did I.

If I somehow did you a disservice...I apologize sir.

MS