Saint Cindy's "Sacrifice"

Main Entry: 1sac·ri·fice
Pronunciation: 'sa-kr&-"fIs, also -f&s or -"fIz
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sacrificium, from sacr-, sacer + facere to make -- more at DO
1 : an act of offering to a deity something precious; especially : the killing of a victim on an altar
2 : something offered in sacrifice
3 a : destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else b : something given up or lost
4 : LOSS
5 : SACRIFICE HIT

Sorry, but the concept of "voluntary" is implicit in "sacrifice." Casey Sheehan sacrificed his life to defend his country; Cindy Sheehan did not sacrifice anything. Indeed, she wanted to run him over with a car in order to get him injured and out of his military obligations.

A piece taken in chess is just a piece taken. It's only when you deliberately give up the piece to attain something else that it's a "sacrifice."

I'm not saying Casey was a chess-piece, for any barking moonbats who want to seize on that. I'm just giving another example of the common understanding of the word "sacrifice."

Cindy Sheehan suffered a loss. A great loss, one of the worst losses there is. But she didn't "sacrifice" anything. Sacrifice implies a voluntary giving up of something for the greater good.

It also implies heroism.

There is no heroism in losing a child to a car accident. Nor of losing a child to a war with which one strenously disagrees. As there is no voluntary decision to accept the loss, there is no heroism, whether physical, martial, or moral.

There may be heroism that comes after such an involuntary loss, as John Walsh displayed after losing his son to murder, and dedicating his life to getting fugitives identified and captured and locked up for a long, long time.

By the left's political lights, Cindy Sheehan may be exhibiting "sacrifice" and even "heroism" after having lost her son... but she did not display sacrifice nor heroism in losing her son originally. Neither did John Walsh.

Personally, I'm not sure what she's currently "sacrificing." I've always wanted to be a Media Darling myself, and I don't see how becoming one is all that strenuous or heroic an act.

She's being made fun of? Criticized? Having her motives questioned? Well, by that definition, George Bush must be a goddamned hero himself.

So please-- can it.

Words have meanings. If you're not sure of the meaning of a word, I would refer you to www.m-w.com, which has a lot of easily-searchable definitions. Sort of like what I like to call a "dictionary."

Definition 4: Yes, it does appear that "loss" appears on the list. The definitions of words sometimes expand, based on usage.

So I guess some do use the word "sacrifice" to sometimes simply mean a loss.

In which case I'm not sure why one wouldn't just say "loss."

In any event, the word "sacrifice" with regard to Cindy Sheehan is being used by the left to imply the normal, more common definition of the word-- a voluntary offering of something precious.

She didn't offer anything. Her loss was not voluntary. We do not say that parents of children who die of SIDS "sacrificed" their children.

posted by Ace at 02:07 PM

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