I think that US and British officials *requested* a backdoor welcome. Obviously that request was not granted. It is always shocking to Americans when other countries really don't care what the U.S. thinks or requests. Marie
**************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013, office (717) 245-1562, fax (717) 245-1971 http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/psych/helwegm **************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: Rick Froman [mailto:rfro...@jbu.edu] Sent: Friday, August 21, 2009 2:59 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] The compassion of Braveheart Are there also cultures that think it is a good idea to welcome a mass murderer of innocent people home with the equivalent of a ticker tape parade when they had agreed that they would basically bring him in through the back door so he could compassionately spend his final days with his family? Rick Dr. Rick Froman rfro...@jbu.edu<mailto:rfro...@jbu.edu> ________________________________ From: michael sylvester [msylves...@copper.net] Sent: Friday, August 21, 2009 10:43 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] The compassion of Braveheart 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) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
