Is right and wrong culture based? I think not, although I concede that acceptability of things which are wrong certainly may be.
In the same way, we in the west find beheading of abductees disturbing, yet although we would deplore the murder (in other ways) of kidnap victims, we would not necessarily describe it as barbaric or with such distaste. By contrast, in the Middle East execution (which I assume is how the kidnap groups describe the killings) by beheading is accepted as quite normal.
How things have changed. My home town has a replica of a gibbet (on Gibbet Street, not surprisingly). The original is believed to date back to the 11 century. Contrary to popular belief, a gibbet is NOT used for hanging but is an early form of beheading device, predating the guillotine by over 500 years. Perhaps we should consider our own history before passing judgement, and also look at how our own current behaviour may appear to other cultures.
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