I read an article yesterday from a Cardinal O'Brien which to me was a very shrewd view on America.

Some of his comments

He said Scotland had a culture of care, while the US was fixed on vengeance.

In an interview with BBC Scotland, Cardinal O'Brien said Americans were too focused on retribution.

"In many states - more than half - they kill the perpetrators of horrible crimes, by lethal injection or even firing squad - I say that is a culture of vengeance," he said.

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth - that is not our culture in Scotland and I would like to think that the US government, and these states that do still have capital punishment, would learn something from us."


He said the use of the death penalty meant the US kept "invidious company" with countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.

"In some states it's month by month now that they are killing people who have a right to live, whatever they've done wrong," he said.

He also backed the Scottish government's decision not to give evidence to American senators

"The Scottish government has made the decision and the Scottish government is answerable to the Scottish people - not the US government or US citizens.

"Everyone acted according to Scots law in releasing a ***** on compassionate grounds, having taken medical advice.

"I still think they did the right thing, although the man is still alive.

"We shouldn't be crawling out to America, or having them come here and questioning us on our own territory."

End of comments

It's not very often I approve of what comes out of religious leaders mouths (not being religious myself), but for once, I found myself agreeing with this gentleman's comments.

Do you think that his comments match how most people in the world see America, or is he talking claptrap?