Partly it is because American public opinion has become increasingly out of step with the rest of the "developed" world on so many socio-political issues (education, government, crime, guns, drugs, abortion, welfare, health, etc.) over the past 30 years, that American attitudes are now just expected to be fairly "alien" and increasingly irrelevant to parallel debates in other countries. (This is not to say that American *should* line up with everyone else, just that they *don't*, and haven't for such a long time that it is regarded as a brute fact rather than a minor fluctuation on which there will eventually be more accord.)
On this particular case, I was astonished (well, not really) to hear many Americans (and a few Brits) ask rhetorically why this man should be shown any compassion because (if he indeed did it) he didn't show any compassion to those who were killed on the flight. Well, because I would think that we *want* to show more compassion than a cold-blooded mass murderer (even to a mass murderer), that's why. It seems quite bizarre that we would let our own moral sense be dictated by the moral sense of someone we have declared to be immoral. Regards, Chris Green York U. Toronto ============== michael sylvester wrote: > > > The release of the Libyan terrorist by Scottish authorities so that he > could spend his terminal days at home and with family is an example of > differential cross-cultural attitudes between Europe and the U.S. > Obviously it demonstrates that Scottish judges took into account that > there is more to justice than the tit-for-tat mentality of the > Americans. It is interesting that the Europeans weigh various aspects > of consequences of certain actions and did not blindly reject the > human element that to even in our worse hour , being compassionate > is truly the quintessential human quality. There are other attitudes > that distinguishes Europeans from the Americans in terms of > prostitution,addiction,euthanasia,death penalty and many other. One > distinguishing characteristic between the two continents is that there > is an ambivalence about values in U.S culture and Americans > appear to have a need to seek approval.As the cross-cultural dude on > Tips,the Sottish justice system seem to take into account that justice > may lead to some incarceration,compassion is right and needs no > consensus from across the ocean.We all regret the loss of lives,but > two wrongs do not make a right. > This is beginning to remind me of bumper stickers I used to see in > Florida "We don't care how you do it up North." > Europeans may be expressing a similar theme-"We don't care how you do > it in the U.S" I understand that in some European countries even the a > life sentence is viewed as cruel. > > > So Stuart Mc Kelvie-Hail Scotland! > > Michael Sylvester.PhD > Daytona Beach,Florida > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) > -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
