Easily Confused (40) Beheadings

People whom we call “barbaric” and “monsters” when they cut somebody’s head off: ISIS, IS, Al-Qaeda.

James Foley beheading

People whom we do business with when they cut somebody’s head off: Saudi Arabia.

beheading Saudi Arabia

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About Andreas Moser

I am a lawyer in Germany, with a focus on international family law, migration and citizenship law, as well as constitutional law. My other interests include long walks, train rides, hitchhiking, history, and writing stories.
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9 Responses to Easily Confused (40) Beheadings

  1. deeess's avatar deeess says:

    Certainly agree! Whilst I will not go into the pros vs cons of capital punishment, one should perhaps also take into consideration the various other methods still employed by other countries across the world. Is a sword (or knife) any different to a lethal injection, hanging or shooting?

    • Good point. The sword looks barbaric because of the medieval image and the splattering blood, but I wouldn’t want to be electrocuted or slowly poisoned either.

    • List of X's avatar List of X says:

      So why do we still do business with countries that poison and electrocute people???? Oh, right.

  2. Dante's avatar Dante says:

    The quotation marks about “barbaric” and “monsters” are inappropriate. Of course, they are not because IS fighters are “the Wests” enemies rather than its allies but because this is exactly what they behave like. This, of course, does not mean “Western” allies would never do so as well, especially dictatorships and islamic states like Saudi-Arabia which might be a thing of political Islam. At the other hand, the Saudi executioner is still less barbaric and monstrous than his IS counterpart because he uses a sword rather than a knife or, worse still, a saw (I can’t see it very well).

    The sword looks barbaric because of the medieval image and the splattering blood,…

    But straightly in that European Middle Ages, being beheaded by sword was a privilege. Even more privilege was given some Vikings by Ethelred The Unready at the St. Brice’s Day Massacre in 1002-11-13 because they were not executed from behind as delinquents but killed from the front as warriors.

  3. djgarcia94's avatar djgarcia94 says:

    Excellent look at the double standard. Personally I’d rather get beheaded than in other method where I’m still conscious.

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  5. Dante's avatar Dante says:

    Of course, I would rather like being beheaded than pretty much anything else IS uses to do to people who don’t join or at least obey them.

  6. Pingback: Lets play… ISIS or Riyadh | glass of scotch

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