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ciel
you're right. i was watching a show on chimpanzees, where the males were mounting other males. the anthropologists were stating that it had nothing to do with sex. they also believed that human spanking has evolved from this less acceptable behavior.
posted by
avant-garde
on July 6, 2005 at 11:06 AM
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PS-- For the record, all great apes commit these particular crimes:
Killing that is not justified by the necessary search for food; sexual acts that are expressions of power and domination rather than of procreation.
posted by
Ciel
on July 6, 2005 at 10:57 AM
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I have always sought the distinction between what is cultural vs natural
to humankind. In fact, there seem to be only two universal-recognized crimes: murder and rape.
They are both based on the unlawfulness of the killing or the forcing of the sexual act, but the laws are based on cultural understandings and definitions of these acts. Punishments, too, are widely disparate-- in the case of rape, often the one raped is punished by law or custom as severely as the rapist.
posted by
Ciel
on July 6, 2005 at 10:53 AM
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sannhet
precisely my point. how can we know all the factors that are left out of our judgments? it is impossible. furthermore, it is projection of our own guilt that is the source of judgment.
posted by
avant-garde
on July 6, 2005 at 8:02 AM
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anthony
i had a good friend murdered in 1999. the guy was a medic, like me, only in a sister city. the girl was a mother of two beautiful girls, and very spiritual. this fellow, charles, was very possessive and could not take the break up. he got his 4 year old daughter and came to michelle's (my friend) work, shot and stabbed her, shot and stabbed his own 4 year old daughter, and then had the cops kill him. For two or three years, i was livid at him. what i did not know then was that i was feeling extremely guilty over not knowing it was coming, and for telling her one time that she would be safe living in shreveport. that was the cause of my anger. when we react to the world, it reflects an inner conflict that's not resolved. i can now say that i have forgiven him, because he has taught me what forgiveness means.
posted by
avant-garde
on July 6, 2005 at 7:57 AM
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Avant -
If we could let the past die and live in the moment, maybe right and wrong wouldn't have such significance.
posted by
sannhet
on July 6, 2005 at 7:12 AM
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avant-garde
Well, some humans don't learn from their mistakes or their mistakes are too horrible for them to move on.
I am reading here daily, the disgusting tale of the release from prison of one Karla Homolka in Canada.
She has murdered three young girls and the Crown did a deal with her that saw she only got 12 years and her boyfriend life with no possibility of parole ever.
Now she is free to be the psychopathic person again. Spirituality kind of eludes me this morning my friend.
posted by
WileyJohn
on July 6, 2005 at 5:24 AM
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inked
it is true that we forget where we have come from so easily. thanks.
posted by
avant-garde
on July 6, 2005 at 3:24 AM
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Hmmm
I just love little pieces that make me think. Its like seeing Afghanistan grow. I hear the guys say some pretty harsh things about these people and their country. Yet what they fell to see is what America was like in 1776 or what it was like in the late 1800s. A lot has changed for us over the years. Yet their ignorance and preconcieved notions drive them to evil thoughts of destruction. Ok I just add the evil thought of destruction to sound cool. But really they aren't far from it.
posted by
inkedforlife
on July 6, 2005 at 3:18 AM
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