There's a song in the operetta "Candide" called "Auto Da Fe (What a Day)" that expresses the joy of the crowds in watching the Auto Da Fes (Acts of faith) of th

There's a song in the operetta "Candide" called "Auto Da Fe (What a Day)" that expresses the joy of the crowds in watching the Auto Da Fes (Acts of faith) of the Spanish Inquisition wherein people were forced to perform public acts of penance for their religious sins or heresies, up to burning at the stake. It's a funny song in its irony, and I'm sure Votaire would have appreciated the treatment that Bernstein gave it. That is to say that this sort of thing is not particularly unheard of. The cultural software of some modern countries may be a bit more progressed than others, but the human hardware of at least a significant portion of the world seems inclined to delight in punishment of those perceived as sinful.