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Wednesday Morning Rant

They Can't Be Bad!

It is no secret that the American press hates America, hates the West and hates its culture. Academia, too, in spades. Neither misses any opportunity to explain why we're awful and why those who are not us are never evil, just misunderstood. From the "racist highways" of academia to the "austere religious scholars" of press fame, there is nothing too absurd for the ideologues of press and classroom.

When the two meet, it often results in hilarity. Last week gave us a prime example of this, in the wake of archaeological discoveries in Guatemala. You may have seen the news that years of excavation and research at the site of a Mayan city in that country's Tikal National Park. One of the findings was a sacrificial altar, complete with human remains. Fascinating stuff, in fact, but it is perhaps less amazing than CBS News' treatment of the discovery.

The excavation is from a very old abandoned Mayan city that has been of interest for some time. Per CBS:

An altar from the Teotihuacan culture, at the pre-Hispanic heart of what became Mexico, was discovered in Tikal National Park in Guatemala, the center of Mayan culture, demonstrating the interaction between the two societies, Guatemala's Culture and Sports Ministry announced this week.

(as an aside, this is the first time I have seen the term "pre-Hispanic." I am very familiar with the term "pre-Columbian" to mean the same thing, but I've never seen this other one. Has it always been a synonym, or is it part of the effort to expunge Columbus from history?)

The altar itself is a major discovery, though it exposes something that CBS has decided to try to spin: it was used for child sacrifice.

Lorena Paiz, the archaeologist who led the discovery, said that the Teotihuacan altar was believed to have been used for sacrifices, "especially of children."

"The remains of three children not older than 4 years were found on three sides of the altar," Paiz told The Associated Press.

Ah, that makes this a little unseemly, doesn't it? And the Guatemalans are doing our press men no favors by pointing out that the presence of a sacrificial altar is a strong indicator of how cosmopolitan and politically important the place was in its time. Only the best places have residential altars for child sacrifice:

Romann said the discovery also reinforces the idea that Tikal was a cosmopolitan center at that time, a place where people visited from other cultures, affirming its importance as a center of cultural convergence.

Not exactly a good thing if you happen to be from a culture that disapproves of child sacrifice and has for several thousands of years - to the point where it's foundational in the dominant religion and mythology. But never fear! Child sacrifice was just, you know, a thing. Not violent or barbaric, just different. Totally cool.

Maria Belen Mendez, an archaeologist who was not involved with the project, said the discovery confirms "that there has been an interconnection between both cultures and what their relationships with their gods and celestial bodies was like."

"We see how the issue of sacrifice exists in both cultures. It was a practice; it's not that they were violent, it was their way of connecting with the celestial bodies," she said.

Ah, of course. This was surely that commonplace non-violent human sacrifice. Just routine. Just a means of "connection with the celestial bodies" - by way of ritual murder.

The level of absurdity here is astounding. This is an interesting discovery and there is plenty to dig into if you wish. Major archaeological excavations and intact discoveries of rare artifacts and installations is notable all on its own. But CBS, knowing that people might be off-put by the notion of the ritual murder of children and thus possibly draw politically incorrect conclusions about Mayan religion, went ahead and found someone totally uninvolved with the project to provide some cover for them. Why? Why did CBS go out of its way to rationalize prehistoric child sacrifice?

Because it was done by not-us. It was pre-Columbian, and so was done by non-Westerners in their own non-Western, non-Christian empire. That means, by definition, it cannot have been bad. We are the only evil ones. So if something done by not-us looks bad, it must be rationalized away. So go find some unaffiliated academic to reassure the readers that it's really just cosmopolitanism and a symbol of cultural strength in a shining example of enforced cultural relativism that nobody demanded.

This move makes CBS look awful. Had they just left it alone and reported it, most wouldn't have noticed this article at all. Instead, many people noticed it and were filled with revulsion and contempt. CBS, all on its own, decided to spin primitive child sacrifice as cosmopolitanism for no reason other than its own ideological fervor. I just wish I could say I found it shocking.