Silence = Death: The Culturist Take

"Silence Equals Death" is a slogan of the gay rights movement. In conjunction with this we see the Pink Triangle. The triangle was the symbol homosexuals wore for identification under the Third Reich. Along with Jews, those with birth defects, Jehovah’s Witnesses, communist, and traitors to the State or Hitler, gays were an officially recognized category targeted for camps and death. If one were not silent, homosexuality equaled death under National Socialist rule.

The era proceeding Nazi Germany was the Weimar Republic. In history the name of the ‘Weimar Republic’ is synonymous with decadence. Perhaps you have scene the movie Cabaret. While clever songs regale decadence and social satire, public displays of sexuality provide the constant backdrop. Sexual decadence and homosexual behavior were visible, not closeted, when Hitler rose to power. Silence did not lead to death in this historical example. It is widely recognized that the backlash against public sexual decadence was a toehold upon which Hitler built his NAZI edifice.

If we consider the wisdom of Plato, the constant play between the Apollonian and the Dmonysian in Greek myth or the writings of the NAZI collaborator psychologist Carl Jung, we know that political life swings like a pendulum. When society becomes too constricted it swings back the other way and vice versa. As in managing a Keynesian economic model, you want to forestall extremes to avoid ricocheting extremes. Extreme loudness, public display, as well as the extreme silence imposed by totalitarianism have lead to persecution and death.

This is not to say that the historical oscillation being described has any merit. It is not to claim that in an ideal world public decadence would or would not be celebrated. But this culturist query is arguing that refusing to speak of trends for fear of bad feelings nor ignorance of historical forces will help us consciously guide our destiny and stay clear of the shoals. Basic knowledge helps us. It teaches that moderation leads to moderation. Neither sexual repression nor excessive public sexuality makes for stability. It is time for the sloganeers to recognize that the ‘silence equals death’ equation is false and potentially dangerous.

Culturism, Iran, Iraq, and Foreign Policy

Homosexuality In Iran

The report below is, as yet, unconfirmed. But knowing what I do about Iran, the method of execution comes as no surprise.

Western bleeding-heart types, those who lament methods of execution in the United States, take note!


From this source, not one of my regular reads (Gotta love those Google alerts!):

LONDON, January 4, 2008 – Unconfirmed reports coming from Iran suggest that two youths are facing brutal execution in the southern city of Shiraz.

According to the Iranian official Quds Daily, two youths, identified as Tayab and Yazdan, had their execution confirmed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday and regional justices are preparing the execution.

Also included charged in the same case were four others who are to receive 100 lashes each.

The ages of the two to be executed are not given, but they were convicted, according to Quds, of “kidnapping, mugging and raping two university students”. The gender of the two students is not known.

Quds reports that the executions will be carried out by putting each youth in a sack and throwing them off the top of a cliff and into a ravine.

This form of execution under Shariah law is normally reserved for those convicted of gay offences (lavat). But there is no mention of ‘lavat’ in the Quds report of this case.

If a person survives this execution, then he is hanged.

Iran’s shari’a-based penal code defines ‘lavat’ as penetrative and non-penetrative sexual acts between men. Penetrative sex carries the death penalty, while non-penetrative sexual acts carry lashes for the first three convictions and then death on the fourth.

Any form of rape should be severely punished. But execution – and such a barbaric execution? Would this type of execution have been handed down if the two victims were women?

There are a lot of unanswered questions. But whether this is another “gay case” or not, human rights groups are this weekend trying to get more information.

Do the methods of execution spark any memory of the Spanish Inquisition?

Islam, forever stuck in the Middle Ages. At least, it looks that way to me.