Torturers?

John Watkins · 05 Aug 2010, 00:46 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: john.watkins04 at gmail.com (John Watkins)
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 20:46:08 -0400
Subject: (urth) Torturers?
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	<17ec46f0a1d8cb7f2f35ac68c85a4008.squirrel at brunians.org>
	<4C59FE50.6010904 at hyraxes.com>
	<AANLkTimDiv6qW=t3w3-i1FBzo4eTvq2F6UGYH90j0r95 at mail.gmail.com>
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On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 8:25 PM, Jack Smith <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> 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 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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