Greetings reader of the What's on Mthoko's mind blog. A man's life can be full of heartache. Among these heartaches, he experiences as a teenager when an ex walks off with another or when a guy breaks up with his girlfriend. As we grow, we become indifferent to relationships, they become less new as we get used to adult hormones or when we get more stable partners & life partners in the form of spouses. Even so, a long time partner could simply divorce should there be "irreconcilable differences" i. e. some kind of betrayal.
This leads me to this story of the concept of being a traitor, whether it's being a traitor to a group of people, a nation or individual - I think it humane to, at least, explain your choice before pulling off any kind of betrayal stunts. I just watched a trailer to a Luis Figo documentary & the prime focus of this documentary was when he left Barcelona for Real Madrid. This after mocking Real Madrid when he won a trophy with Barcelona. A Barça fan even called it "high treason" because he was idolized by Cules (Barcelona fans) as almost a son of Catalonia & now, he was playing for the enemy, Real Madrid. To me, this is fascinating. How a game almost becomes a political battle, I cannot see it in Africa. This is where I think our deadbeat Berlin Conference countries benefit us. Imagine this kind of fanaticism when a player walks off with another football club in Africa? It really does belong in Europe, we simply wouldn't be able to afford the results of the aftermath as developing countries.
High treason in dictionary definitions is described as "disloyalty to the land's monarch or government" or "aiding a war or conflict against the government of the land". In modern internet culture, we just call being bitter after being betrayed as just being "butthurt". As if it's normal, "get over it", it's a common occurrence. As to how much betrayal harms society or whether Judas should be punished by law, is up for discussion. Personally, I think it's more a lack of an explanation than the actual deed that causes people to resent betrayal. Victor Hugo once said; "When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right." We can't be held hostage by loyalty if it is harming us.