The Ritual Sacrifice of Amanda Knox

[pnwmom]

I am sad and disappointed to find some of the witch-hunters here; but thankfully most realize what has been going on.

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/05/07/the-ritual-sacrifice-of-amanda-knox/

The lead prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, is alleged to be obsessed with satanic rituals, Masonic occult practices, and sex cults. Before taking on the Amanda Knox trial, he was charged with prosecutorial corruption in another case. Looking at the vile and misogynistic comments about Knox that still race around the Internet, it’s obvious something regressive is going on that needs to be named. It’s as primitive as our ancestors’ instinct to drive evil from our midst.

The phenomenon of this modern-day witch trial brings together the “viral” quality of an Internet lynch mob with something as old as the ancient Greek practice of stoning or exiling selected slaves, cripples or criminals at times of disaster, in order to “purify” the community and protect it from cosmic punishment. As soon as Amanda Knox became associated with archetypes of female evil, the so-called trials become a way to purge the sins of those downloading the very heart of darkness onto the universal girl next door.

SNIP

In the twenty-first century, scapegoating still happens in legal courts as well as the court of public opinion. We may not be heaping sins on the head of the goat whose death serves for our atonement. Yet, according to the teachings of psychologist Carl Jung, we still have a tendency to deny or split off the darker sides of human nature, at our own psychological risk.

It’s completely understandable that we do this. Splitting off parts of ourselves allows us to look away from the ugliness within ourselves. But here’s where the trouble comes: The “shadow” traits don’t just go away. They continue to fester under the surface, periodically erupting in condemnation of the moral shortcomings we ascribe to others. They are dubbed the evil ones who then deserve the worst of punishments.

Amanda Knox had the misfortune of being the perfect carrier for the shadow side of Perugia, an Italian city with a medieval collective unconscious. In Perugia, she was the archetypal anti-Madonna. In the Western press, she epitomized our fascination with the good girl/bad girl persona.

SNIP

[Gothmog]

1. Knox will not be extradicted back to Italy in any event

There are simply too many grounds to oppose any extradiction request that I do not see this happening

[rhett o rick]

2. Great post. Thanks for posting. nm

[pnwmom]

3. You're welcome. n/t

[Gothmog]

8. I bet that you are glad that this mess is over

I have been following your posts on this mess for a long time and I have tried to back your positions up on a number of occasions because I agree with your analysis. You have been following this issue for a long time and your posts on this issue have been excellent

[Gothmog]

4. Amanda Knox's ordeal is over

[Brother Buzz]

5. A couple of links to back-up your post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141051125

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026425109

[Gothmog]

7. I saw those threads

I am a lawyer and I have been following this mess for a long time. I am not comfortable with the Italian legal system and I am glad that Ms. Knox's ordeal is over

[Brother Buzz]

9. I mostly threw them up for other viewers reading your post

[Gothmog]

18. No problem

[Blue_Tires]

6. As I said years ago, I just wish Troy Davis' case got as much attention and support...

Since they were both in the news at the same time..

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. "..the shadow side of Perugia, an Italian city with a medieval collective unconscious..."

Oh for goodness sake!

[pnwmom]

12. Have you ever been to Perugia?

I've known two women who spent time in college there. And they agreed with Nina Burleigh's descriptions in The Fatal Gift of Beauty. One of them told me to read it.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. Yes, I have

Just a quick visit, though.

I don't object to specific cultural critiques of conservative cities. For instance, a sociologically based critique of West Memphis could account for the general beliefs among the population at the time of the West Memphis 3 convictions. That's fine and well. I do laugh, however, at nonsensical psycho-babble, though, like the "medieval collective unconscious." Opinions on this matter were no doubt as varied in Perugia as they are elsewhere. It is a town with living, breathing inhabitants with all manner of opinions, not a caricature invented by US public relations firms.

[pnwmom]

15. Prosecutor Mignini's version of Catholicism WAS medieval. In how many modern US trials

would a prosecutor be calling a defendant a "Luciferina"?

But he could get away with that in a place like Perugia.

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. The lunatic US prosecutions around the Satanic ritual craze of the 1980's was all too modern

Including the one I referred to in the post above. Let's not forget that the West Memphis 3 had just as flawed evidence against them as Ms. Knox, were just as railroaded by a laughable legal process, and, indeed, perhaps ended up with a more ridiculous result, being forced to take a modified Alford plea for their freedom, meaning that unlike Ms. Knox, they are legally considered to have murdered those children. And it took far longer to get them out. That's a modern US trial.

That said, I suppose I object more to the notion that 1) there is a 'collective unconscious' that 2) can be mapped to various time-periods. It's a silly phrase, and that's what I was laughing at.

It's all too easy to scapegoat people (as happened to Ms. Knox and Mr. Sollecito). It's also all too easy to react to that by damning whole populations, which seems to be the more common move here.

[KamaAina]

11. Will the trolls please go away now?

There are plenty of bridges for them to colonize.

[Brother Buzz]

14. I believe they will latch onto the next shinny object coming down the pike....

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

[spanone]

16. she's been cleared. over. done.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/europe/amanda-knox/