ghost_marauder

This may sound stupid to you, but have you done research into how religion acts on the brain. Most of these groups have layers of grooming activities and work for years on the participants. (I'm thinking of the video when they did MRI's on Apple fanatics)

Much like hypnosis to go forward in these organizations a person has to have a desire in the first place to move forward. Many societies have 33 layers, that's a lifetime of grooming and desire to move forward. The further they go into the belief system the more they are rewarded and the more of a dopamine hit they get from being not just a part of, but a core of such a group. It's like Narcissism on steroids. Even self flagellation gives this hit afterwards.

I'm personally of the opinion that they actually do believe in the power of taking life gives them more. But, this was not something they came to in a day. It takes a long time to recondition soldiers to pull the trigger on an enemy the first time. Even if you have sociopaths in these organizations they have to be high functioning sociopaths which is far rarer than the 1% of regular sociopaths in society.

So why have people sacrifice children. Besides the religious belief. I'd say that there is a lot going on. You know that if you get away with it that the organization you joined has the power to steal peoples children, turn away the police, and cares for your position enough to allow you to do it. You know that you have supreme order in your ranks when you not just defile another person, but commit an extreme social taboo by eating them. This then leads into the thought process that your order not only has power over "the slaves" but that you also have a truer path because you've been bestowed with these powers by a higher entity.

There is a ton going on with rituals of sacrifice that, although interesting, really has nothing to do with this investigation other than determining motive.

totesgoats908234

I agree that it is cyclic and passed down to victims. In Afghanistan it is so much a part of their culture that the US military made an example of one of their most elite soldiers who tried to intervene on a child's behalf in this "culture". This says a lot to me.