Why is death by beheading worse than death by beating or electricution?

My deepest sympathy goes out to the Berg family. The death of their son is a tragedy of great magnitude so please understand that I mean no disrespect to him when I ask this question.

I'm just a little confused by the outrage of so many American people about this. To many people it justifies all of the abuse that has been exposed in the prisons because it proves that "those people" aren't even human. Yet, I suspect, most of those same people support the death penalty. They might argue that the people we execute are "guilty" of a crime, but more than 100 death row inmates have been later found to be innocent.

I ask also, how is the execution of an American worse than the death of the Iraqis in detention? Because it was video taped? The Americans have proven to be handy with a camera too.

Just asking.

"What? Stabbing takes a second. Crucifixion takes days."

"At least you're out in the open air."

Death is Death. No matter how you do it, the end result is always the same.

This "what's worse" stuff is ridiculous.

Not going to Iraq and still being alive.

Since the head is where we see, smell, taste and breath from, not to mention the holder of our brains, I think there is a symbolic aspect to having one's head removed from one's body.

I think it demonstrates a sort of ritual degradation to the person being beheaded.

Just my speculation.....

you have to add in the rape and assult and degredation.

Why the Berg thing is "worse" to some people I do not understand.

In a crass sense, after the act of murder -- the person is dead. They no longer care for anything -- Life is over and oblivion takes all.

In rape, the survivor usually lives for years and years to come. The victim will be haunted by it until their dying day. Rape is a fate worse than death.

If the murder was really so shocking, why hasn't it wiped the prison scandal off the front pages in the US? And hasn't even made a dent in the prison scandal internationally. Hell, Hezbola (sp?) has condemned the murder...

which is why Israelis are now risking their lives to retrieve body parts from the blast site, where the last 6 soldiers were killed. It's a religion thing.

some people are just trying to bury our own atrocity and using berg as an excuse. Some people are making a political issue out of his death. But many, if not most people here I think, simply feel like the difference between Iraqi prisoner torture and (apparently, though not clearly confirmed yet) murder and Berg's torture and murder is that hearing about the Iraqi torture felt like hearing about a murder in a far away city in another country. Hearing about Berg felt like watching your family member killed in front of you.

That however, is not how I feel.

I think because I reject "nationalism" on most levels, I honestly don't feel "more" angry about Berg's brutal death than I do about other brutal death and torture. I also remember the fact that we shouldn't even be there in the first place, and while I hate terrorist actions, I'm more angry at our administration, and to some extent, I blame them for his death.

I actually have an inverse reaction to many people. The torture and possibly murder of prisoners by our country honestly affects me more personally than even the tragedy of berg's death. The reason why is very simple: I expect terrorists to use terror, to murder people and to do things that I consider to be evil. I don't like it when it happens, but I expect it. However, our own torture and abuse and complete disregard for international law or any vestige of justice affects me far worse, because even though I thought I was being very realistic about the state of our country, I realize that I still had this mythical hope that we honestly believed our own rhetoric about justice, and the "American" way.

That's about as analytical and dispassionate as I can be about it...

Our ancestors used to behead people a few hundred years ago.

We don't do that any more.

Now we use modern things like electricity, poison gas and bullets.

This shows that we are more civilised.

*They* still behead people.

This shows that *they* aren't as civilised.

QED

("No dear, QED isn't the sponsor of this advertisement")

</sarcasm>

Please note that as the head was removed from the body at some point
*after* the life had been removed from the body, it's really not much
different from the post-death treatment of the mercenaries.
It's certainly nothing to get wound up about.

The sad thing is that the chap was captured & killed (unexpectedly).
The things that happened to the empty shell afterwards really don't
matter a damn.

At least that was what I experienced in the region. Prayers of thanks to their God are said during the killing.

The symbolism was quite clear to me.

head is severed. you will have the knowledge that
your head and body are no longer attached and you
may even be able to see your headless body over in
the corner, but unable to do anything. needless to
say, that would suck big time.

I can't understand why American right-wingers are so proud to be on this list.

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We don't cut off the heads since the 10th of september 1977 and the crime didn't increase faster.

(The French death penalty was abolished in 1981. 247 men and 4 women went to the guillotine in 20th century in France)

nt

It reminds them of the French, and what the French did. So now that the two have something in common, you get 2 targets in the same outrage. Bargain!

Always look at the supply side angle when you try to understand right wingers.

proabaly a difference in the immediate vcisercal reactions an individual has. I saw the the Berg video. I was horrified.

I haven't ever seen a video of someone being electrocuted or beaten to death. I imagine my reeaction would be the same.

The beheading was done to shock. As was lifting his severed head and shoving it into the camera lens. Do you think his death would have recieved the saem reaction had he been given a lethal injection and appeared to slip away peacefully? Yet, the end result would be the same.

More people die in car accidents than in Iraq. So what's the big deal?? The big deal is that there is a sub-human element to war and the latest atrocity that reflects on all humankind. A part of all of us die when something like this happens. It is the possibility of humans destroying each other in the most violent and cruel ways by the millions, from hatred and war and loss of humanity.