An idiot just started a thread that finds some cases of corporal punishment still taking place in some Muslim countries and spins it out of proportion. My reply on that thread, which was deleted, was:
This video is stupid. It compares legal systems in pre-industrial and even pre-enlightenment societies (by European standards) with the modern societies of the 21st century.
Use of mutilation as punishment makes economic sense everywhere, from feral tribes of the Amazon to Papua New Guinea, up to the point where a more sophisticated justice system can be implemented, with a system based on restitution being ideal.
It predates Islam, and it doesn't correlate with Islam - you are far more likely to face physical punishment for theft in a poor and backward Pagan country than a wealthier Islamic one.
Whether this system of punishment is more cruel than throwing people for decades in prison is a purely subjective question, and one that can only be discussed on a case-by-case basis. I certainly would have more to fear from a socialist government that would throw me in prison for decades for (just Federal) tax resistance!!
Why did I bother writing this text on a Luca Brazzi "Hijack-Free Zone" thread... People who delete other people's posts (i.e. not one-line insult spam) are hopeless idiots. I'll crawl a mile through broken glass before I ever delete a thoughtful post just because it disagreed with me!