Auto-Da-Fé
Robert H. Outman, Prisoner P-79939
Auto-da-fé
translates to "act of faith" in Portuguese. However, in history it
assumes a much more sinister significance. Auto-da-fé was
the ceremony of the Inquisition's judgement and order for punishment, to
be executed by the government. This perverse marriage of state and
church ushered in the perfection of punishment, torture, assorted means
of death, and "creative cruelty" designed to break the will of those deemed
not in moral conformity.
In
1483, Tomás de Torquemada was appointed Grand Inquisitor of the
Inquisition by King Ferdinand V, to wage war on evil in Spain. Torquemada
appointed Inquisitors to travel the country to pass judgement and order
necessary punishment of the morally deficient. The Inquisitors were
high-minded pillars of the state and church. To appear fair, multiple
Inquisitors would sit in judgement of the wretched. Empowered with
the collective sanctions of both God and government, they were no less
than self-righteous tyrants, inflicting absolute fear in those being judged.
The
tyranny of righteous indignation saw thousands of people put to incredibly
cruel deaths, by stoning, whipping, evisceration (disembowelment), burning
at the stake, and other demented means of slow painful death. Those
waiting for the Inquisition's judgement would be brought out of incarceration
to sit for moral judgement before the travelling Inquisitors, where witnesses
and friends of the church and state would give testimony as to the defendant's
immorality. Many people found the Inquisition's frenzied war on evil
to be a handy tool for personal agendas. It readily lent itself to
a person's desire for gain or vengeance, thereby being a convenient means
to an end. This proved useful for those with a vendetta. A
scorned wife could use the Inquisitors to have her husband escorted to
the gates of Hell. A hateful son had only to cast aspersions on his
father's back for the Inquisition to quickly crush the ingrate. Carefully
placed words were enough to cause a slow painful death. The war on
evil was greater than the soul of a possibly innocent person.
The
Spanish Inquisition was formally abolished in 1834. The last recorded
auto-da-fé took place in Mexico in 1850. BUT WAIT....
Like the war on evil, isn't there a war on crime? Aren't high-minded,
self-righteous pillars of the state and church still authorized to pass
judgement on the moral conformity of others? Don't they have the
incarcerated brought out to sit before them, in moral judgement?
Don't they render orders for the government to continue slow painful deaths?
Don't witnesses and friends of the state still give testimony to malign
a person's moral character? Several hundred years later and some
people still use the state to pursue their vendettas.
Why
do I see the auto-da-fé of so many harmless old men dying cruel,
slow, painful deaths in prison? The 15th century Spanish Inquisition
was abolished, but has its sinister spirit survived in the 21st century
Board of Parole?
Editorial Comments
Sam Aurelius Milam III
Mr.
Outman's questions are also pertinent outside of the prisons. Has
anybody noticed how the appearance and behavior of judges resemble that
of a clergy? Has anybody noticed the subservience and reverence that
people are required to show toward both the judges and the courts, or be
punished? Has anybody noticed how court procedures resemble those
of a church service?
Just
because something is immoral, that doesn't necessarily mean that it should
also be illegal. Just because something is virtuous, that doesn't
necessarily mean that it should also be mandatory. Even so, legislation
throughout the United States has become a weapon for the enforcement of
Christian dogma. The judges and the courts are part of the iron fist
that wields the weapon, inheritors of the auto-da-fé of Mr. Outman's
article. We need to get the evangelism out of religion, and the religion
out of government.
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