From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

The 15-07-2017 issue of New Scientist carries an interview with
Francoise Sironi, one of the few people in the world who tries to treat
the perpetrators of violence. She is an expert witness for the
International Criminal Court in the Hague, specialising in assessing
those accused of crimes against humanity or genocide. It's on page 41.

===========
In 2008 you assessed Duch, the Khmer Rouge leader who tortured and
killed thousands at the notorious S-21 prison. What did you conclude?

Duch is an example of what I call a man-system - someone who has
relinquished their own identity and adopted that of the
ideological system they grew up in. Duch was capable of talking
normally about his family one minute and discussing his rCLworkrCY
at S-21 the next. It wasnrCOt easy for him to torture, he told us,
yet he trained youngsters to do it.
When he expressed regret, it was on behalf of the Khmer Rouge, not
himself. At one point I asked, rCLWhat happened to your conscience?rCY
He replied he didnrCOt understand the question.

What effect does it have on you to spend time with torturers and
murderers like Duch?

I interviewed Duch 16 times. Strangely, my reaction was physical
rather than emotional. It was hot in Phnom Penh, but every time
I left his cell I felt cold. My colleagues and I - I was always
accompanied by a Cambodian psychiatrist and an interpreter -
would have our debrief huddled together for warmth.
===========

What I find fascinating about this is that those who investigate the paranormal - ghosts, hauntings, spirits and so on - frequently report
that one evidence of the paranormal is a feeling of cold. It might just
be a chill breeze or it might be a chill in the room or corridor, but it
is usually understood to show that there really is "something" there
rather than just some hysterical person with an over-active imagination.

I believe that ghosts and other manifestations are, in fact, devils
seeking to deceive men with the devil's original lie, "Ye shall not
surely die". Ironic to think that the devil, so often depicted as a red
figure amid the flames of hell, may in fact be blue with cold and
situated amid icebergs and snow drifts.

Mind you, some of my African friends, newly arrived from the tropics
into the chill of an English November, would be in complete agreement.
Hell is cold! (Or cold is hell.)

God bless,
Kendall K. Down
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