FYI
Heinrich Müller, Chief of the Geheime Staatspolizei [Gestapo] coined the term Verschärfte Vernehmung, “enhanced interrogation”, in 1937. The useful euphemisms are recycled forever – “homeland security”, etc.
In my experience, torture is only used as an attempt to produce information in Western Christian societies. In the rest of the world it is punishment to force conformity and/or compliance, when it isn’t used strictly to cause pain and suffering.
Consider the sacrament of penance in the Christian tradition. That is really the basis for the Inquisition and was part of Western laws for centuries in many forms like trial by ordeal.
Some “think tank” in ages past decided that souls have weight, ergo witches would weigh less than normal people because they have sold their souls to Satan. This leads to tying up people suspected of witchcraft and throwing them into deep water. If they didn’t sink and drown, they were pulled out to be hanged and/or burned. Those who drowned were obviously innocent and given a Christian burial.
December 10, 2014 4 Comments
