To allow one’s child to grow up to suffer it in turn was a callous, criminal cruelty. Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
‘I’m absolutely aware we were cruel.’ The Act of Killing ***** Sky Atlantic 2016
R v Brown [1994] 1 AC 212: Most law students are familiar with the infamous case of R v Brown, in which several homosexual men filmed themselves consenting in sadomasochistic activities. For the faint of heart, I will exclude details of the acts but they were very extreme. When this tape accidentally found its way into the hands of the police, they were all arrested and charged with Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH). Under s.20 the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861. The House of Lords eventually held that it was not in the public interest for the court to allow members of the public to wound each other ‘for no good reason’.
The attitude of the majority is best summed up, I feel, by Lord Templeman: ‘Society is entitled and bound to protect itself against a cult of violence. Pleasure derived from the infliction of pain is an evil thing. Cruelty is uncivilised,’ though it must be mentioned that a huge amount of the judgment focused on the fact that the activities were homosexual. It being considered a ‘comfort’ that one of the ‘victims’ had ‘settled into a normal heterosexual relationship’. Lord Lowry also continually stressed that he would not allow an exception for ‘sado-masochistic homosexual activity’ throughout his judgment for no good reason. Timothy Wilson, Newcastle University, summary of R v Brown
R v Brown: The appellants belonged to a group of sado-masochistic homosexuals who over a 10-year period from 1978 willingly participated in the commission of acts of violence against each other, including genital torture, for the sexual pleasure which it engendered in the giving and receiving of pain. The passive partner or victim in each case consented to the acts being committed and suffered no permanent injury. The activities took place in private at a number of different locations, including rooms equipped as torture chambers at the homes of three of the appellants. Video cameras were used to record the activities and the resulting tapes were then copied and distributed amongst members of the group. The tapes were not sold or used other than for the delectation of members of the group. The appellants were tried on charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, contrary to s47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, and unlawful wounding, contrary to s20 of that Act. The Crown’s case was based very largely on the contents of the video tapes. Following a ruling by the trial judge that the consent of the victim afforded no defence to the charges, the appellants pleaded guilty and were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. The appellants appealed against their convictions, contending that a person could not guilty be of assault occasioning actual bodily harm or unlawful wounding in respect of acts carried out in private with the consent of the victim. The Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals. The appellants appealed to the House of Lords. CIRP online article
The same cruelty and sadism of Stalin’s political life dominated his family life, especially his relations with his second wife Nadia. History’s Most Hated s1e4: Hitler & Stalin, History 2019
[Marquis] de Sade: Cruelty is the first sentiment imprinted into us by Nature. Matthew Collings, Hello Culture: Badness, Channel 4 2011
God’s oneness is cruelty. House of Cards US s1e3: Chapter 3, Frank’s sermon, Netflix 2013
Man’s inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn! Edmund Burke
He found the cruelty of the world unbearable … But deep in his inner self, Thomas Hardy remained that raging wounded self who chastised the values of the world he inhabited. Thomas Hardy: Fate, Exclusion & Tragedy, Sky Arts 2021
The night I first met Jacob, he told me what he and other children in northern Uganda are living through. Kony ***** 2012
This movie expires on December 31st 2012, and its only purpose is to stop the rebel group, the LRA, and their leader Joseph Kony. ibid.
He [Kony] takes children from their parents and he gives them a gun to shoot. ibid. father to son
For 26 years Kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel group, the LRA. Turning the girls into sex slaves and the boys into child soldiers. He makes them mutilate people’s faces. And he forces them to kill their own parents. ibid.
It’s been over 30,000 of them. ibid.
It’s simply not an important enough issue on the radar screen of American foreign policy. ibid.