I’m watching Defiance, Episode 2 – a new SyFy channel production about a post-apocalyptic earth city filled with mixed alien races. One of the aliens communities is torturing one of its own for cowardice in battle. The new sheriff, a typical blonde American cowboy, stops the ceremony at gunpoint.
The alien in question begs to let them finish his torture, which is necessarily to clean him of sins so that his soul will reach absolution, and also to redeem his family. It’s a not-so-foreign religious idealism which believes pain is purgative. But the cowboy won’t listen – until the mayor weighs in and allows them to continue their rite.
“Can you honestly tell me that what you think they are doing is RIGHT?” he whines.
“No, but it is NECESSARILY” she replies.
Which side are you on?
At first I was pissed at the sheriff for sticking his nose into the private affairs of a foreign culture and passing judgment on their religious traditions. What if, for example, a foreign lawmaker walked into your daughter’s first communion.
“You’re FORCING her to drink the blood of 2000 year old man! That’s barbaric!”
“But please sir, I need to do this, drinking the blood will wash away my sins!”
Do you let her continue in what you perceive as a sick and twisted form of psychological abuse based on infantile superstition? If so, who are you to decide what’s RIGHT?
Or, do you just let them go ahead with their traditions?
(In a more severe case, think of female genital mutilation, or even circumcision which has become standard in the west).
Amnesty International and other Organizations are against ALL forms of torture, no matter what, and most civilized citizens are as well – on principle. Torture is bad.
But what about the long favored church tradition of penitence? We may have gotten rid of the whips and chains, but many Christians still believe in sacrifice, such as giving up chocolate or coffee for lent.
Surely the principle is still sound, if not the macabre.
Most Christians will also affirm that there is glory in martyrdom – that dying for the cause is the highest virtue. What if the Romans had said to themselves, let’s just lock these rebels up in a state prison for the rest of their lives, instead of feeding them to the lions. There’s no glory in imprisonment. Wouldn’t the martyrs have demanded more bloodshed, so that they could reap the celestial rewards?
The action in Defiance builds when the red-head alien chick climbs up on the crucifix and cuts him down – hissing and spitting while the other race is throwing rocks at her. She is protected by the black kid deputy who likes her.
She seems like a spoiled first world brat heading off to Iran and denouncing their traditions as barbaric. Stupid, sure. But is she right?
Is it time for the world to say, we just won’t tolerate this shit anymore, religious tolerance be damned?
What do you think
Is torture always wrong?
Is there any governmental branch that can challenge what we believe in? Should there be?
May 11, 2013
Hi,
In my Opinion, it should be your own choice what you do with your life.
In other Words if somebody wants to be tortured he can do that when ever he wishes and can( i suppose for some torture he might need help), but what is if somebody wants to be tortured because he is manipulated, with manipulated i mean some sort of brainwashing that is manmade ( excluding himself ).
In such a situation i would try to cancel the brainwashing, but what if the Person likes it better then it s normal self. Can the person evaluate something like that?
At mild levels such as penitence i would say “Sure, why not ?”
On the other hand when people sacrifices there entire life for an Religion and maybe only for the benefit of one or a selected few. I start doubting my decision.
coming to the question ^^:
I think challenging someones believes is nothing bad as long as u do not
force somebody to change them ( not that it would be easy using normal methods). Meaning i think it would be pretty awsome to have such an institution if and only if it does not force people actively or passively to change there believe nor forces them self on them to much (ofcourse something like tht would be extremly difficult to manage and would need somewhat of anextremly good judgement).
The Reason for my Opinion is that challenging believes( in the way i understand it) can achieve two things either somebody changes his Opinion, finding something that suit the persone better, or he wil be strengthened in his believe, knowing why he prefers it to others.
At least according to my own little theorie 😛
ty for reading have a nice day
May 20, 2013
We’re all brain-washed all the time, though. If I oppose torture of any kind, it’s because that’s the attitude my culture has brainwashed into me. If I think this kind of torture is good but that kind over there is bad, it’s because that’s the attitude that has been brainwashed into me my by past experience, teachers, parents, friends, etc., even my own past thinking. Whatever my beliefs and attitudes are at this moment, they’re a product of my past journey up to this moment. How I react to what happens now is a function of what has happened to me in the past and how I’ve interpreted it.
So I don’t see a way to know that one way is right and another is wrong. Which doesn’t mean I should butt out and never intervene if I think someone is suffering pointlessly. But it doesn’t me I SHOULD intervene either. There’s no guidance. All I can do is respond in the moment however I do.
July 8, 2013
I can’t disagree. We’re probably completely conditioned reactive robots with no free will. It’s the most logical conclusion. But I like to pretend my choices matter. (Or perhaps we are robots with programming but can still learn and adapt… if we make enough bad decisions and don’t like the consequences, we can change our habits and our experiences, perhaps. Or we can take drugs (like putting in more ram or a new processor…)
May 26, 2013
hi again,
Now that u mention it. I suppose you are right there is no guidance ( if u continue to read this will sound strange). With that said with this kind of logic you can justify anything. For example you could kill somebody and say that you just reacted to him insulting you. It s not wrong to do this in the big Picture were are just 1 out of a few billion people, 1Death is nothing compared to all humanity or all live. But i think there is a way for us to get guidance, when we set us an Goal. Because with a Goal we just need to find the most effective Methode(wich i know is an argument on its own but easier).
This brings only one big Problem: What is the right Goal?
which brings us back to you someguy
with high regards
Me
July 8, 2013
Thanks for your comments! I believe we can find meaning in life and make life meaningful – but that doesn’t mean there is ONE meaning for us to discover…