Homicide

Meme

One human killing another human.

Identity can be Fatal

Clement of Alexandria's "Stromata" (written c. 200–202 AD) is one of the earliest Christian documents to suggest that, similar to a surgeon excising a diseased organ, it is appropriate to put to death members of society who "fall into any incurable evil," suggesting state-inflicted capital punishment for certain behaviors.

While early Church fathers often debated the morality of state punishment, the first recorded instance of Christians executing other Christians for heresy (labeled as non-believers in orthodox doctrine) was the execution of Priscillian in 385 AD. Early Theological Justification: Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215 AD) used medical analogies to justify the state killing members who damaged the "body" of society.

The Shift to Coercion: Following the legalization of Christianity, Augustine of Hippo later argued for the coercion of heretics, moving away from total non-violence, although he did not initially advocate for the death penalty itself. 385 AD Precedent: The execution of Priscillian by sword marked the first instance where church leaders (bishops) were involved in having secular authorities execute fellow Christians for heresy.

Later, in the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas formalized this, arguing that it is beneficial to execute individuals who are a danger to society and whose sins are contagious.

Identity and Safety

Elizabeth Anderson, the chair of the Philosophy department at the University of Michigan, thinks we’ve misunderstood the basis for development of a free and fair society.

If you look back at the origins of liberalism, it starts first with a certain settlement about religious difference, Catholics, Protestants - they’re killing each other! Finally, Germany, England, all these places say, we’re tired of these people killing each other, so we’re going to make a peace settlement: religious toleration, live and let live. Then something remarkable happens. People now have the freedom to have crosscutting identities in different domains. At church, I’m one thing. At work, I’m something else. I’m something else at home, or with my friends. The ability not to have an identity that one carries from sphere to sphere but, rather, to be able to slip in and adopt whatever values and norms are appropriate while retaining one’s identities in other domains? That is what it is to be free.

The question we all need to ask ourselves today is: How do we maintain our freedom in a society that is so rapidly changing into one where every company can learn everything about everybody who is just using a cell phone going about their daily routine?