Human Sacrifice

One of the more common religions shown in True Detective is that of Christianity, as the two detectives visit churches as well as services, trying to solve the homicide case and missing children. In some interpretations of the Bible, it is possible that the idea of human sacrifice can show how committed an individual is to their God(s) and it is important to obey this requirement. Another aspect to note is that a sacrifice of a child is special as it is the sacrifice of the child's future. Some may believe that sacrifices may grant them immortality or at least a longer life (1).

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In the Bible, child sacrifices are not meant to be taken literally but instead were done to show or test how obedient one is to God. These texts were written several thousand years ago, where the language was different. When looking at True Detective, it is possible that those individuals in the cult (who perform these human sacrifices) have interpreted some phrases of the Bible literally, thereby justifying their abuse and torture of children.  A fan quotes “Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves." Numbers 31:17-18” (2). This could be why this cult targets sex workers, as they are women who have lain with men. The second part of this quote could be interpreted that this cult may have been keeping the young children for themselves, leading to the pedophile aspect of the cult (3).