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Discussion
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Pardon implies guilt. These women don’t need pardons. They were innocent victims of the patriarchy and of religious zealots. This is, quite literally, adding insult to the gravest injury of all.
updated 2 years, 4 months ago
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Replies
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Pardon doesn’t always mean guilt. Legally, it is often used as a “my bad” by the government.
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I can’t speak for other countries, but in the UK you can only get a pardon if you are innocent of the crime you were convicted of. It clears the convicted of any wrongdoing and therefore in this case a pardon is most excellent.
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At what point are they going to charge the catholic church with war crimes? That might be justice. Many were not merely executed but tortured to death.
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I remember in the 90s, the church _forgave_ Galileo (for the heliocentric model of the solar system). I think it took years later to admit he was right.
These days we should just challenge any authority that asserts truth by fiat. Most societies tolerate extreme levels of false justice (despite oaths to do otherwise, such as Blackstone’s ratio). Given the private prison system in the US which may easily have an over 50% false conviction rate just to fill cells with warm bodies, I think nothing short of abundant repparations are in order for every last mishandled case.
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We cannot change the many mistakes of the past, but recognizing the mistakes made is already a first step in the right direction.
I am thinking of the apologies of the Canadian government to native American children or of the French government to the Harkis, for example. It is by recognizing that society has acted like crap, that we can move towards more equity by deciding not to do the same horrors again.
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If you wish to blame someone for the bullshit in the first place (in Scotland anyway), I put the responsibility on King James VI. He took part in an investigation personally and wrote a pamphlet on how to recognize a witch. Only to turn around and say witches (as they were defined then) don’t exist. It drives me bonkers.
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They’ve pardoned people who they know weren’t guilty. At least in the American system the pardon is used by the president when he believes the legislative branch has failed.
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I find it telling that if a dude in that time was suspected of doing magic he was venerated as a saint but if a woman was suspected of doing magic they were just executed.
Really goes to show how terrified people are of women getting power.
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The [article](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/19/executed-witches-scotland-pardons-witchcraft-act) links to a group called [Witches of Scotland](https://www.witchesofscotland.com) and it seems a pardon was one of their asks. I support the group and their efforts, although I still believe the term “pardon” implies guilt.
Edit: link
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Only women? In Norway a bunch of men were killed as witches or “trollfolk” as well.
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What about of we charge the church and the Christians involved with retroactive murder.
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I think that they are acknowledging anything is shocking.
Also, I think the intention was a gesture of reparation.
Baby steps are still steps. -
Pardon means you were found guilty, not that you necessarily are guilty. Pre-emptive pardons to someone like Joe Arpaio imply guilt because it implies he will be found guilty.
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What good is that going to do them or their families now? Is the government going to find out where all of them are buried, dig them up, and re-bury them on consecrated ground so they can finally be with their families where they should have been from the beginning? Is there going to be some form of reparations, or even a public apology to the families of the women executed for trying to live outside the patriarchy? Because let’s be honest, a lot of the so-called “witches” had done nothing wrong. They just found out how to be self-sufficient instead of relying on men for survival.
