Guilt vs. shame; deterrence vs. retribution

In discussion during both classes this week, we separately considered two differences between our culture and the culture from which Confucius was writing. First, that his was a shame culture and ours is a guilt culture; second, that the idea of retributive punishment was absent from his thoughts, though it seems perfectly normal -- albeit occasionally objectionable -- to us.

This makes me wonder if there is a link between the two. Perhaps our inclination towards retributive punishment has its roots in the desire for criminals to feel guilty/guiltier. Perhaps deterrent punishment works so smoothly in shame cultures because it reminds potential criminals of the shame they will experience if they carry out their intended crime.

What do you think?

Messianic Figures and How They Work

This is a response to Kaz's recent post. He points out the universal quality of the concept of a Messiah, given how many stories in so many cultures include the idea of a single person who will come along and make everything better.

Not only do I agree with this observation -- that we, as human beings, want figures like this to show up and fix the world -- I would also hypothesize that we want messiahs so badly that we might see them where they aren't, and we may even become upset when the person/s onto whom we are projecting our messianic ideals turns out to be just another ordinary human, or otherwise does not fit the mold.

I think this would help explain booth why and how Jesus's followers, after his death through to the present, began not just reinterpreting him as a divine figure, but reinterpreting his message; instead of appearing and fixing the world, he'd shown up and told us that we need to fix the world, and that wasn't sufficiently messianic for us.