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Jul. 28th, 2006 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sillygoosegirlOnce upon a time, I read in a book about an alien species whose customs demanded that if a murder was committed, the one who committed it must die, or if he could not be found, 12 innocent "relatives" must die in his place. I thought, that is ridiculous, I can't believe that even a weird alien culture could follow practices so absurd and so horrible. Should not one innocent life count for more than the lives of many guilty?
But it's been many years since I read that book. I do not remember what else was in that book, but I remember the part about those weird aliens, and their attack on a space station holding 12 persons of the same species as the one who committed a murder against them. I remember it because it was so dumb and unbelievable.
But I've had a lot of time to think about it, and compare it to what I hear about in current events in violent places. It is disposable, but unfortunately it is not nearly so alien as I once believed.
But it's been many years since I read that book. I do not remember what else was in that book, but I remember the part about those weird aliens, and their attack on a space station holding 12 persons of the same species as the one who committed a murder against them. I remember it because it was so dumb and unbelievable.
But I've had a lot of time to think about it, and compare it to what I hear about in current events in violent places. It is disposable, but unfortunately it is not nearly so alien as I once believed.
