Humans hold a great reverance for the body of the departed. People form such a strong bond that when someone dies they remain bonded to the body. Death involving such a gruesome mutilation of the body has an enormous impact on others. It’s a way to show gross disrespect for the victim as well as send the friends/relatives of the victim into shock, as Marley32 says.
I think it’s more about the display than anything else.
I think there’s a whole range of possible reactions. I wasn’t shocked; I expected that something extreme would be done in retaliation for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Horrified, yes, by the execution of an innocent bystander, but not by the method. For me, the horrible part is that he was killed, not how.
I don’t propose that the media should have covered it any differently than they have. It was a big story, and they covered it that way. One of the prices of a free press is that people who do things like this for the purpose of provoking a public reaction are going to get exactly what they want. I was just pointing out that such coverage has negative consequences that come along with the benefit of keeping people informed. The same might be said of the coverage of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.
The Letters to the editor at the San Francisco Chronicle provide a range of interesting opinions on this subject.
Two that I fancy include these from two people who were “outraged” or “disturbed” by the pictures. I disagree with both of them.
Beheading is a dishonorable form of execution. I know this raises a question (is any execution honorable?) but questions aside, your head, the bodily command center, has a face. This face is placed ‘face down’ on your knees. Kneeling is a symbolic position - as symbolic as raising your hands when I gunman points his pistol at you. This is a low, humilating position. Any human wanted to die with respect would take a gunshot to head, then die with his face down on his knees.
Remember playing sports as a kid? How would you rather win? a legitimate goal or a cheapshot? It comes down to honor.
While a beheading is worse than most types of murders, I don’t think it’s as bad as having your intestines being cut out of you while you watch and die a slow painful death. There is name for this type of killing, but I cannot remember it at this time. I’m sure someone will come along with the name. Bergs screaming lasted for quite some time, but the type of death I mentioned would last much, much longer.
The name would be “disembowelment” or “evisceration” – and it was but one stage in “drawing and quartering,” the traditional punishment for treason in medieval England. Rent a video of Braveheart. It’s not otherwise historically accurate (the Prince of Wales from that film, who later became King Edward II, didn’t really get married until two years after William Wallace’s execution!), but I think they got the drawing and quartering right – though I’ve heard from other sources that “quartering” actually meant having horses tied to your hands and feet and having your arms and legs pulled out of their sockets.
In some American states, a condemned prisoner is allowed to choose the method of his or her execution – within limits. For instance, you can’t choose the guillotine, because it causes needless mutilation to the body. Personally, I don’t like that rule. If I had to choose the manner of my death I would pick guillotine in a heartbeat! In a public square! It would be so cool! The marching up the scaffold, the drumroll, the falling blade, the blood-spurting head held up for the amusement of the crowd . . . AWESOME!
I suspect that if the terrorists killed by an excruciating “drawing and quartering” and put that on video we’d be even more outraged than we were with a beheading.
Well, first of all, I think it is partly fueled by the fact that it was an EXECUTION, not a murder (there is a subtle difference between the two).
I’d like to put forward that a beheading is a more “feral” way to die. The way modern (American) society looks at death, there are “acceptable” and “unacceptable” ways to go. DYing from lethal injection is viewed as a relatively painless and acceptable death, whereas having one’s throat ripped out is unacceptable, whether it is done by a bear, farm machinery, or another person. Likewise for gunshots - it is more “civilized” to be shot in the head. All of the above ways may end your life within a heartbeat of each other, but each is ranked on its own as “acceptable” or “unacceptable.”
Also, part of it is corpse abuse. While there are plenty of people (especially online) who like to pound on their chests and proudly declare that they can be chopped up and used for fishing bait for all they care (because they are so much more progressive than the slobs who care about the ancient concept of person, much less, horror of horrors, theology), for most people, they would prefer to go in one piece than suffer the indignity of having limbs rent from their body and thrown together in a closed casket.
I agree. Bring back the guillotine! 
Yeah! No really, bring it back. :eek:
I was bothered by both. I don’t believe a beheading is necessarily worse than certain other types of killing. In the Berg case though, the amount of suffering involved seemed pretty great. Had he been guillotined, I would not be less bothered by his death, but I would feel better about his last minutes in life. Given the choice, I think most people would prefer to go the quick and painless route. Doesn’t mean dying or murder is any less serious, but I do believe the pain left for the living can be compounded by knowing a person suffered horribly before death.
As many noticed before, The beheading of Berg was indeed made by Al-Qaeda in a way designed to create shock, the problem here is that I do think Al-Qaeda’s intention was to cause outrage and make the U.S. more resolved to remain in Iraq. Al-Qaeda does not care if Iraqis are blamed or killed for this, all they care is that the US remains around so their “holy war” will continue. (As an aside: doesn’t the fact that they could get a hold of a guy that allegedly was a few day before in Iraqi custody, and had time to plan and make the video in Iraq, show that the idea that “The U.S. is in control of Iraq” is an asinine assertion?)
I do think we should hunt down the killers; unfortunately, we have an administration that is making even moderate Iraqis, which should be our friends in organizing that hunt, into our enemies.