1.    Dying and Killing to Establish the Reality of a Sacred Ideal. Koenigsberg's Law of Sacrifice (see also here). Dying and killing are undertaken to prove "the truth." Political violence (that takes the form of war, genocide, terrorism) is undertaken when doubts arise as to the validity of a society's sacred ideal.

2.    Dying constitutes a demonstration of sincerity. That which we die for becomes real or true. The nature of the entity or idea for which human beings die is fungible. The mechanism is the same, regardless of the nature of the idea: death--and memorials erected in the name of those who have died--testify to the reality of the entity or ideal. Death and memorialization perform a validation function.

3.    Human violence is not biological aggression. Quite the contrary, it is performed in the name of abstract ideas and ideals, separating us from other animals, who kill for practical reasons--in the name of survival.

4. We human beings prove that we are human (another kind of animal) by dying and killing for abstract ideas. We engage in collective acts of political violence to establish the truth--prove the reality of a sacred ideal.

The nature of the entity or idea for which human beings die and kill is fungible. The mechanism is the same, regardless of the nature of the idea or ideal: death--and memorials erected in the name of those who have died—testify to the reality of the entity or ideal. Death and memorialization perform a validation function.

                              The proof of the pudding is in the dying.

     BELOW: Crosses erected honoring soldiers who died in the First World War