Gospel: John the Baptist was beheaded not only because of Herod's vain promise to Herodias's daughter, but also because he was a cruel man, and life was considered cheap (Mt 14). If rulers are governed by their emotions and hold life cheap, suffering is the inevitable result.
Conversation
King Herod to Lester Holt: “I was always going to behead John the Baptist, knowing there was no good time to do it. But as I did it I was thinking to myself this whole criticism of my marriage was a made-up hoax that was a prophetic excuse for the fact that the Romans like me.”