ABSTRACT
Since the 1970s, and in the United States more especially so since September 11, 2001, the western world has been conscientized to the wrongness of terrorism. Terrorist atrocities- nonstate sanctioned violence against the "innocent"- are rightly condemned. The terrorist knows where a bomb is hidden that will kill many people when detonated. To prevent this greater act of violence, the terrorist ought to be tortured, a lesser act of violence. A cultural assumption is that at times the only resort left to parents is violence. Children need it, for not only is violence necessary, but the "Myth of Effective Punishment" tells that violence against children works. The problem of violence generally is that it ignores autonomy, causes harm, is unfair, does not do good, is based on false myths, strips those against whom it is used of their essential human dignity and equality, and finally does not work in the long run.
