I do think if there’s an objective thing that can condemn a culture, it’s willingness to sacrifice its children is that thing
And I do think this extrapolates to modern cultures, from slapping a suicide vest on a toddler, to “one child” policies to “children are bad for the environment” type movements.
And we lost a lot every time. I don't believe it was needed to crush the cultures of America and elsewhere because of disagreeable religious practice. The argument could be made that we should wipe out Islamic culture because of their opression of women. And it would be an abbhorent argument.
Just wanted to add that this reads like the Romans condemned the Celts for practicing sacrifice, and that the Christians did the same for the Romans. This is not true.
I'm curious as well on that topic: what do we think of legal sacrifice in Rome? Should we condem their entire culture because they crucified people?
I see a strong and continous cultural and political link from Rome to the Church of Rome to Charlemagne and on through the various duchies and unified provinces to get to the modern European state that I live in today, in and old Roman settlement just below the Rhine delta.
I live by customs and laws rooted in Roman practice. Much more so than I do live in any way resembling the ways of the people who lived here before their arrival, or the ways of the people who lived in my native land before the arrival of the Catholics of Rome.
And I do think this extrapolates to modern cultures, from slapping a suicide vest on a toddler, to “one child” policies to “children are bad for the environment” type movements.