Our Obsession with Blood and Gore Also Contributes to Acts like Beheadings
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
1 July 2022
“Though highly advanced, Romans had an
inexplicable obsession with blood, gore and cruelty. Watching two gladiators
fight till one of them died and tossing slaves and criminals before hungry
lions were sure and certain signs of a very fine race's eventual decline
because when people become willing spectators to blood, beheadings and
disembowelments, the fall of that race is obvious. Humans cannot survive and
subsist on cruelty for long."
-Sir Edward Gibbon, ' Rise and Fall of Roman Empire'
“Blood-thirsty Romans dug their own
graves."
- Professor Bulwar Lytton, 'Last Days of Pompeii'
Let me
relate the aforementioned statements to our current obsession with bloody
videos. When someone sent the beheading video of Kanhaiya Lal, I immediately
deleted and rebuked him for being so insensitive. How people can watch such
blood-oozing spectacles is beyond my ken. But then, humans have always been
terribly insensitive.
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In the
kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a few other Muslim countries where Sharia is still
practised, I've seen people throng to see the beheading of a convict, that too
immediately after evening prayers (generally between Asr and Maghrib).
Men as well as women (who're considered to be genetically more sensitive than
men) love to watch a poor convict's blood-soaked head roll down on the sands.
What type of sadistic pleasure does this blood-curdling and shuddersome sight
give those 'devout' people who look forward to the decapitation of a man is a
question that has always intrigued me.
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Psychologists
and neurologists are of the view that it gives them an orgasmic pleasure.
Whatever it may be, how can humans see their fellow human's decollation? It's
an insult to human dignity, even if that man happens to be a hard-core
criminal. Mind you, only Muslims of Saudi and other countries cannot be blamed
or castigated for this weird and beastly behaviour. All humans have more or
less this obnoxious trait in them. We're bloody sub-humans and worse than
Neanderthals. I saw youngsters see ISIS goons cut the heads of people.
The total
absence of sensitivity from our lives and society has made us insouciant to all
these occurrences. Nizami wrote in Persian centuries ago, “Seeing and enjoying
blood everywhere and loving its stench, humans have forgotten the fragrance of
flowers. '' So very true. Urdu poet Fazil Altaf writes, “Ek Qatrah Khoon Ka
Mujh Se Dekha Nahin Jaata/ Log Samandar-E-Khoon Mein Dubkiyaan Lagate Hain “(I
shudder at the sight of a drop of blood/ Here, people dive into the sea of
blood).
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All these
criminals, like the two in Udaipur beheading, know that in addition to shocking
the people with such a gory video, this will also attract their animal
instincts. This gives them (criminals) a sense of nebulous validation and an
air of triumph from scores of people watching such videos. In other words,
we're encouraging these scoundrels by watching what they uploaded.
In fact,
before condemning the two brainless religious goons, we must condemn our own
reprehensible behaviour and utter insensitivity that are catalysts to fostering
such unthinkable acts of cruelty. We must ask ourselves, where're we heading
to? Aren't we also like all insensitive and ruthless murderers and unrepentant
criminals? We're answerable to our own conscience if that's still alive.
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A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/obsession-blood-gore-beheadings/d/127377
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