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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter February 11, 2004

Collective Guilt and Collective Punishment

  • George P Fletcher

Attitudes toward collective guilt in the Middle East require us to take a closer look at guilt in the Bible. It turns out the text of Genesis is conflicted. Some passages support a theory of guilt linked with the inevitability of cleansing and punishment; other passages appear to treat guilt as a psychological state that might be cured by a confession of sins. The tension is important today in trying to understand whether the collective guilt of nations should also entail collective punishment.

Published Online: 2004-2-11

©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston

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