(urth) Torturers?

[David Stockhoff]

Of course, there is your own penitence, and then there is other peoples' 
penitence.

John Watkins wrote:
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 8:25 PM, Jack Smith <jack.smith.1946 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:jack.smith.1946 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Yeah.  Torture is a good way to gain confessions, but not
>     necessarily a way of getting the truth.  If you waterboard me,
>     I'll confess to the Lincoln assassination to make you stop.
>
>     However, the guild is called the "Order of the Seekers for Truth
>     and Penitence."  Does this imply that once torture was used to try
>     to get the truth out of suspects?
>
>  
>  
> I think so.  It's also a neat parallel, as many have noted, with the 
> Church and many other religious groups, which are organizations for 
> people who seek truth and penitence.
>  
>  
>
>
>
>     On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 7:57 PM, Dave Lebling <dlebling at hyraxes.com
>     <mailto:dlebling at hyraxes.com>> wrote:
>
>         It is specifically stated that torture in the Commonwealth is
>         a punishment, not a means of obtaining truth. The Guild
>         performs exactly the tortures ordered, and the torturers are
>         taught to completely ignore anything their victims say.
>         Severian is chided for listening to a victim at one point
>         during his apprenticeship.
>
>         Torturers in our time may ostensibly be in search of truth,
>         but the Guild is inflicting judicial punishment.
>
>         -- Dave Lebling, aka vizcacha
>
>         brunians at brunians.org <mailto:brunians at brunians.org> wrote:
>
>             A torturer insists upon being told the truth, and has
>             various means to
>             ensure that he is being told the truth.
>
>             These seem to me to be useful qualifications for a
>             successful monarch.
>              
>
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>
>
>     -- 
>     Best wishes,
>     Jack
>
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