Call to War – Gold Star Mother
36″ x 48″ oil/canvas
Human sacrifice is alive and well in modern history. The unemotional elders in this painting, who stand in silence at a sacrificial ceremony, are ideologically impervious to the pain borne by the grieving mother. Self-Sacrifice is part of the Hero’s myth; a high form of moral development. Political exploitation of the idealistic young in wasteful religious or colonial wars negates honor. A society that embraces war, except in those instances of self-protection, practices human sacrifice.