nehemiah
March 16th, 2008, 9:42:17 PM
Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.
The debate (regarding abortion) continues. A reader writes:
"(when destroying a cell-clump) Many women believe they are acting out of compassion (however mistakenly); is it possible for a torturer to hold similar beliefs?"
In fact, it is possible. During the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, the primary purpose of torture was to get the victim to convert to Catholicism. Those doing the torturing believed that the conversion would save the victim's soul. So they did, in fact, consider torture to be an act of compassion (the ultimate act of compassion, actually). And often the victim would be killed after the torture, but that was okay because the soul had already been saved. How compassionate.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/03/compassion-and.html
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The debate (regarding abortion) continues. A reader writes:
"(when destroying a cell-clump) Many women believe they are acting out of compassion (however mistakenly); is it possible for a torturer to hold similar beliefs?"
In fact, it is possible. During the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, the primary purpose of torture was to get the victim to convert to Catholicism. Those doing the torturing believed that the conversion would save the victim's soul. So they did, in fact, consider torture to be an act of compassion (the ultimate act of compassion, actually). And often the victim would be killed after the torture, but that was okay because the soul had already been saved. How compassionate.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/03/compassion-and.html
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