Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your advice. What shall we do?” Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father. The hands of all who are with you will also be strengthened.” So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
Absalom's message to his supporters was: "If things get tough I won't cut a deal and hang you out to dry." To those who didn't support him, it was: "Fear me. I stop at nothing."
That may sound familiar. In the more recent events another factor applies, which wasn't so relevant to Absalom/David: "The measure of their violence was taken to be the measure of the injustice done to them": they wouldn't do such horrible things if they hadn't been even more horribly mistreated.
The core message seems the same as Absalom's: "I mean there to be no possibility of compromise; nothing will be forgiven on either side."
The buccaneer Pierre le Grand -- the first one to take a Spanish Galleon -- is said to have had holes bored into the bottom of his ship on the approach.
ReplyDeleteAnd I fail to see how sadistic tendencies, once cultivated, could possibly be confined to specific targets. Therefore, I expect abuse rates in the Gaza Strip to increase.
ReplyDelete