or maybe just the fact that most of the dead were Americans, not Scots. On Aug 21, 2009, at 10:43 AM, 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. Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato paul.bran...@mnsu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)