I’m well aware of such things. My question was aimed at the phrase “the entire village” — which is a claim of unanimity. My point was that members of the village who disapproved would have a strong incentive not to express their disapproval.
Also, American lynchings (of the period you refer to) and witch-hunts are not really the same thing, socially speaking — in part because of the supernatural corruption implied by a claim of witchcraft.
Witch-hunts are an ongoing thing, by the way, in a number of parts of the world. In some cases, economic motives are pretty clear; in others, it seems pretty clearly a matter of superstitious fear that isn’t really comparable to the self-evident political or sexual-political motives behind American racial lynchings.
I’m well aware of such things. My question was aimed at the phrase “the entire village” — which is a claim of unanimity. My point was that members of the village who disapproved would have a strong incentive not to express their disapproval.
Also, American lynchings (of the period you refer to) and witch-hunts are not really the same thing, socially speaking — in part because of the supernatural corruption implied by a claim of witchcraft.
Witch-hunts are an ongoing thing, by the way, in a number of parts of the world. In some cases, economic motives are pretty clear; in others, it seems pretty clearly a matter of superstitious fear that isn’t really comparable to the self-evident political or sexual-political motives behind American racial lynchings.
Recall the top-level post.
Sure there will be deviants who disapprove. They are, clearly, very bad people.
They are expressions of the morality of the majority which is good by definition, isn’t it?