I awoke, half an hour ago, wondering to what extent the world is becoming more civilized. Stoning seems to have been quite common in Old Testament times. So were lynchings, just a few years ago, in the Southern United States.
Nothing receint comes to my mind so I am about to look up references on the internet;
MikePaterson
Posted on: 12/16/2012 08:46
Waterboarding, predator drones… capital punishment… how long a list do you want?
naman
Posted on: 12/16/2012 08:56
Hey Mike. I have been investigating the matter on Wikipedia which does not include your references because they are not related to mob rule or flock behavior whereas stoning and lynching are.
revjohn
Posted on: 12/16/2012 08:59
Hi naman,
naman wrote:
I awoke, half an hour ago, wondering to what extent the world is becoming more civilized. Stoning seems to have been quite common in Old Testament times. So were lynchings, just a few years ago, in the Southern United States.
I would argue that we are not becoming more civilized in our behaviour towards one another. We are simply more discerning about what is acceptable and what is not.
Lynchings are a very good example. Horribly violent bits of public vengeance, no evidence needed just an allegation that boiled the blood of the local populace, a sturdy rope and a tall enough tree. Today we are more gentile and the rope and tree are yesterday's tools. Now in the 21st Century we have media. Thanks to advances in technology we've found ways to get the pound of flesh that hanging spoiled. From a certain perspective the lynchings were probably kinder.
And social media means that we get away with all kinds of character assassination that a more civilized society would probably stop.
We are more technologically proficient at savagery, which is progress of a sort. I don't know if that is enough to say that we are more civilized.
Grace and peace to you.
John
Serena
Posted on: 12/17/2012 01:27
The teen girl that was bullied bc of the pics of her that existed w/o her shirt on comes to mind. The mob was her peers and they beat her up as well as told her to kill herself on facebook.
naman
Posted on: 12/19/2012 20:05
Thanks Mike, RevJohn and Serena. This thread has been short and to the point. We no longer have lynching mobs. We have the CIA and FaceBook peers taking over from the lynching parties.
Comments
naman
Posted on: 12/16/2012 07:44
Nothing receint comes to my mind so I am about to look up references on the internet;
MikePaterson
Posted on: 12/16/2012 08:46
Waterboarding, predator drones… capital punishment… how long a list do you want?
naman
Posted on: 12/16/2012 08:56
Hey Mike. I have been investigating the matter on Wikipedia which does not include your references because they are not related to mob rule or flock behavior whereas stoning and lynching are.
revjohn
Posted on: 12/16/2012 08:59
Hi naman,
I awoke, half an hour ago, wondering to what extent the world is becoming more civilized. Stoning seems to have been quite common in Old Testament times. So were lynchings, just a few years ago, in the Southern United States.
I would argue that we are not becoming more civilized in our behaviour towards one another. We are simply more discerning about what is acceptable and what is not.
Lynchings are a very good example. Horribly violent bits of public vengeance, no evidence needed just an allegation that boiled the blood of the local populace, a sturdy rope and a tall enough tree. Today we are more gentile and the rope and tree are yesterday's tools. Now in the 21st Century we have media. Thanks to advances in technology we've found ways to get the pound of flesh that hanging spoiled. From a certain perspective the lynchings were probably kinder.
And social media means that we get away with all kinds of character assassination that a more civilized society would probably stop.
We are more technologically proficient at savagery, which is progress of a sort. I don't know if that is enough to say that we are more civilized.
Grace and peace to you.
John
Serena
Posted on: 12/17/2012 01:27
The teen girl that was bullied bc of the pics of her that existed w/o her shirt on comes to mind. The mob was her peers and they beat her up as well as told her to kill herself on facebook.
naman
Posted on: 12/19/2012 20:05
Thanks Mike, RevJohn and Serena. This thread has been short and to the point. We no longer have lynching mobs. We have the CIA and FaceBook peers taking over from the lynching parties.