Culture of death

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Culture of death has two distinct meanings:

• A term coined by John Paul II. It is used in contemporary political discourse in many countries, including the United States and Poland, to describe supportive positions on certain subjects, such as abortion, euthanasia, human cloning and capital punishment which adherents of opposing positions deem to be inconsistent with their concept of a "culture of life".

• A term used in Colonial Europe to describe barbaric cultures which glorified or worshipped death. This was then used as a justification for the subjugation and colonization of these cultures. The usage has been revived to describe societies that revere suicide bombers as martyrs.