Culture of death

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Culture of death has two distinct meanings:

• A term used in Colonial Europe to describe barbaric cultures that 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. 1
• The opposite term coined by Pope John Paul II is Culture of Life. It is used in contemporary political discourse in many countries, including the United States and Poland, to describe nonsupportive positions on certain subjects, such as abortion, euthanasia, human cloning, poverty and capital punishment which adherents of opposing positions deem to be inconsistent with their concept of a "culture of life". Some commentators would add to that list homosexuality, contraception and other phenomena perceived to attack marriage and the family.2 3