Comments by "Angry Kittens" (@AngryKittens) on "Ancient Maya 101 | National Geographic" video.

@VoidX Who said I was defending them? They were pretty brutal. Though it must be mentioned that they considered being sacrificed as "honorable", since it was quite literally a repayment of the debt of humans to the gods. The slower and more painful the death, the greater the debt paid. Human sacrifices were not unique to the Mesoamerican cultures. Old World civilizations practiced human sacrifices aplenty. What made Mesoamerican cultures unique was how widespread it was and how it was so accepted that self-mutilation was also quite commonplace as a form of "self-sacrifice". Just goes to show what religion can do to basic human empathy.
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They never ate hearts. They just ripped it out and offered it to their gods. It wasn't originally their practice as well, but a tradition adapted from the neighboring Aztecs. They did eat other parts of the body though. After the sacrifice was done.
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