I suppose you might think so--if, that is, you think of the execution of Charles I as a shining instance of the rule of law; or of Drogheda as an example of the principles of christian warfare; or of the theatrical productions characteristic of the Commonwealth as an advance over Shakespeare and Jonson. Or if you choose to ignore the fact that Citoyen Sade, as president of the Section des Piques, spoke and wrote against capital punishment, earning the honor of being the only person ever to be imprisoned for thought crime by both Louis Capet and Robespierre.
Shane Mage
"Thunderbolt steers all things...It consents and does not consent to be called Zeus."
Herakleitos of Ephesos