To modern man disease is a biological phenomenon that concerns him only as an individual and has no moral implications. When he contracts influenza, he never attributes this event to his behavior toward the tax collector or his mother-in-law.
(A)
Sometimes they may not strike the guilty person himself, but rather one of his relatives or tribesmen, to whom responsibility is extended. Disease, action that might produce disease, and recovery from disease are, therefore, of vital concern to the whole primitive community.
(B)
Disease, as a sanction against social misbehavior, becomes one of the most important pillars of order in such societies. It takes over, in many cases, the role played by policemen, judges, and priests in modern society.
(C)
Among primitives, because of their supernaturalistic theories, the prevailing moral point of view gives a deeper meaning to disease. The gods who send disease are usually angered by the moral offences of the individual.
* sanction: 제재