view the rest of the comments
politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
So if I'm sentenced to 20 years for first degree murder, is the fear and terror I feel over losing my freedom the state torturing me?
What about if my doctor's office refuses to give me my diagnosis over the phone on a Friday, and tells me I have to wait for an office appointment on Monday. Is that torture? Should I file a legal complaint or try to get charges pressed?
You're conflating internal agony and anticipatory fear, with actual externally applied methods of torture.
I understand what point you're trying to make, but words have meaning and if everything is torture, then how bad can torture really be?
None of those are knowing for certain you will die while it is happening.
If you redefine torture into any form of discomfort sure. But that is not what the word means.
"the action or practice of inflicting severe pain or suffering on someone as a punishment or in order to force them to do or say something."
So solitary is for sure torture. Normal prison shouldn't be but can for sure be in some cases. It's only slightly better than the corporeal punishments (lashes, stockade) of old in my opinion.
How would actually killing someone, with the person being killed being fully aware that it happens, as it happens. Not be "externally applied methods of torture"? Asphyxiation has been used as a method of torture for millennia.
You realize that my questions were rhetorical, right?
Re-read the comment chain, maybe you meant to reply to someone else?
No. I'm saying it's you who don't understand what torture means and your "rhetorical questions" are daft and completely unrelated to what anyone in the thread is saying.
Seeing as these all flow down from my original response, I'm pretty sure it's you who doesn't understand the context of the conversation.
Also, the torture in question wasn't the execution method. So again, I suggest you re-read the comment thread.
I'd argue that depending on the victim that 'any form' of discomfort could be considered torture. What should define torture isn't a 'commonly accepted idea of torture' but what the victim considers torture. Some people are quite fine with not having any company for example, but other people if they were socially isolated would consider this a torture, especially for a protracted period of time.