Death sentence : an eye for an eye

[SoulofChrysamere]

I'm with Keanumoreira here. Man is naturally bloodthirsty, whether you want to admit it or not. If a person is wronged, the basest natural human response is to desire vengeance on that person. Time and again, it's proven that vengeance doesn't solve anything. It doesn't stop the pain. It doesn't replace what is lost. It doesn't make anybody's life better. All it does is intensify the pain and complicate the lives of all of those involved. When someone is put to death for murdering someone else, how are they executed? Strapped to a gurney awaiting that shot, strapped into that electric chair awaiting that shock, tied to a pole awaiting the firing squad's barrage, etc.. Murder is defined as the execution of a person that is absolutely no threat to you. How would you describe the executionee in those situations? It's a misguided effort at closure and a power trip above all else. Man likes to think that he has progressed so far in all the years he's been around, but in this day and age, we're no less cruel and hypocritical than we were thousands of years ago.

 

I have a personal experience, whose handling I attribute to my ardent Christian faith.

 

About a year ago, my grandfather died via a heart failure induced by food poisoning, which came from some ill-prepared meat that we purchased from a local grocery store. I could have gotten angry at the store workers...I could have gotten angry at the workers from where the meat came...I could have gotten angry at my own grandmother and mother, who bought the stuff. I was certainly tempted to. I didn't, though. I acted like a man and forgave the everyone. As my dad says, "Life is what happens when you're planning something else." If everyone would get over their injuries, whether they be physical or mental, the world wouldn't be the cesspool of sin that it is today.

 

I don't know about you, but, if someone killed one of my loved ones, I would happily sit at their execution, and eat popcorn. It WOULD make MY life better, knowing that the SOB that did this, will NEVER do it again to someone else. Vengeance? Sure, call it whatever you like, I still call it JUSTICE.

 

Why should some lowlife scumbag that killed one of my loved ones get three squares a day, a warm place to sleep, etc.... at MY expense, while my loved one is worm food? I don't have ANY mercy for murderers. None, zero. I don't turn the other cheek. Whack his happy arse dead. Put a smile on my face, and spare someone else the pain of having one of THEIR loved ones forcibly removed from them.

 

Who says I'm advocating the prison system? I'm no fan of it either, but...you're going to be happy over someone's death? You're going to strap someone down and kill them without a chance at forgiveness...without a chance for self-betterment. You're going to play God and snuff out his/her life. Tell me that's not cold-blooded. And it doesn't stop the pain. There's still the pain of that loved one being lost whether it was via murder, an accident, or what have you. Hypocrisy runs deep, sir.

 

Please notice that I'm not trying to sound cold when I say this, but I feel it needs to be said in a matter-of-fact way. However, I do agree that the prison system's royally fudged up. I never said it wasn't.

 

And before you rap on me about my sentence about "self-betterment", there's plenty of people who've done unspeakable acts and are now serving life in prison that have decided to do something good before their execution date arrives.

 

I realize that since I'm young, I sound pretty naive in your eyes. Can't change that through words, I'm afraid.

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To dazzerfong,

 

 

 

A few years ago, my sister nearly choked to death on a piece of chicken. While I was certainly grateful that she didn't pass on, it's important to realize that there's nothing to be gained by sitting in a corner all the time and moping. I thanked the Lord and moved on.

 

Another one. When I was young, one of my friends had an older brother who was also a friend. We played on several occasions while I was growing up and I really liked him. Then, one day he was shot and killed by a supposed friend. His lifestyle wasn't the best for sure, but as you said, it's hard to believe that someone in their teens can be snuffed out like that.

 

Whether you call me cold-blooded or not is your choice, but I remain adamant. Death's a lot easier to handle with the right attitude.

Edited April 22, 2012 by SoulofChrysamere

[dazzerfong]

@ SoulOfChrysamere:

 

I don't attribute miracles to God, but I do admit that there are times when a much better outcome comes out instead of the tragic one. And why would I call you a cold-blooded killer?

[Nintii]

The real question is, what would you prefer;

 

A) Mob justice ... hunting down the killer or rapists etc., and then chopping off their body parts - factual where I come from - pouring petrol down their throat and setting them on fire and watching them "explode" - no kidding

 

B) Court justice ... which is also a bit of a sham these days, but the alternative is the above, also the death of the killer or rapist is a lot more humane than the above.

 

C) Kill them privately ...

 

You see the problem with most of you is that you're way too politically correct ... too touchy feely ... and the killers get away with murder ... murder people c'mon, can't you see that ?

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ... your life in exchange for the one you've taken.

 

@ Saadus ... though I agree with a lot of what you say I must disagree on your statement, "Morals are emotional" ... morals or moral values are standards set by individuals or instituitions like governments which are in essence laws ... laws that govern what is right and wrong ...

 

It is wrong to steal ... you can attach emotions to that if you want to but essentially it's unemotional ...

Laws are standards, targets to either live by or measure yourself by ... nothing emotional about that.

Edited April 22, 2012 by Nintii

[Marxist ßastard]

The State shouldn't be in the business of revenge killing. To paraphrase Seneca, it's a terrible act that commits evil to do good as a side-effect.

[dazzerfong]

@ Marxist:

 

It's not revenge, it's just......business ;)

[SoulofChrysamere]

Dazzerfong,

 

 

Well, not everyone's religious and I don't find too many friends in the faith on the internet. Anyway, I'm very blunt and matter of fact when I speak and so I have a tendency to sting others unwittingly when I say something. :dry:

[Keanumoreira]

A: I saw the report on the Mason family, I saw the pictures of what they did to that celebrity, how they wrote 'W****" in blood on her door. Am I saying he didn't get what he deserved? No. But there is always another side to humanities' vengeance, one where we can choose to forgive and allow the world to heal, not by blood, not by spilling of guts and gore, but by choosing not to embrace that much darker side inside all of us. Thomas Edison, just like I am, was a staunch opponent of the death penalty. Why? Here's a history lesson for you (to everybody I mean, I'm sure you know the story A). Thomas Edison was competing with another company (something housing, I can't remember) to sell his invention of the light bulb. This rival man sold high-voltage light bulbs as where Edison's were low-voltage. In order to beat his competition, Edison did something that would scar him for the rest of his life. He was given the opportunity to execute a man using the high-voltage light bulb to show just how dangerous they were and agreed to allow his butler to do so by execution via electric chair (yes, Edison invented it). This man killed his wife with 40 something blows with a hatchet, and they thought the chair would stop his heart instantly. Guess what? It didn't. Over 2,000 volts of electricity surged though the man's body, taking eight whole minutes to kill him. He was literally cooked from the inside out. Edison, disgusted by this man, was even more appalled at how he died. Do you think that was very humane? Because anyone who says so is extremely cruel.

 

 

Dazzerfong: I see what you're saying, and I agree, I don't know what it's like to be in that situation, but if I was, I'd still like to believe that I'd show mercy for this man/woman. No one deserves to die horrifically. We all make mistakes, and some of us are hopelessly sick. I don't see a reason to punish them in any other way but locking them away from the world, for both safety in mind, and preservation in the little purity this race has left.

Edited April 22, 2012 by Keanumoreira

[marharth]

Can people please quit acting like saying "well you don't have as much experience as me" which translates directly into "well your not as old as me" means you actually have a wider understanding of the entire world and every single social and political problem? You are not different then anyone else here. People older then you hold different opinions. Simply being older or having more experience in the world does not validate your opinion. "wider-world experience" changes nothing. I also suggest people read the forum rules topic under flaming, which directly mentions to not be demeaning to people younger then you.

 

People need to realize that it is revenge killing. Like it or not it is what it is.

[Aurielius]

A: I saw the report on the Mason family, I saw the pictures of what they did to that celebrity, how they wrote 'W****" in blood on her door. Am I saying he didn't get what he deserved? No. But there is always another side to humanities' vengeance, one where we can choose to forgive and allow the world to heal, not by blood, not by spilling of guts and gore, but by choosing not to embrace that much darker side inside all of us. Thomas Edison, just like I am, was a staunch opponent of the death penalty. Why? Here's a history lesson for you (to everybody I mean, I'm sure you know the story A). Thomas Edison was competing with another company (something housing, I can't remember) to sell his invention of the light bulb. This rival man sold high-voltage light bulbs as where Edison's were low-voltage. In order to beat his competition, Edison did something that would scar him for the rest of his life. He was given the opportunity to execute a man using the high-voltage light bulb to show just how dangerous they were and agreed to allow his butler to do so by execution via electric chair (yes, Edison invented it). This man killed his wife with 40 something blows with a hatchet, and they thought the chair would stop his heart instantly. Guess what? It didn't. Over 2,000 volts of electricity surged though the man's body, taking eight whole minutes to kill him. He was literally cooked from the inside out. Edison, disgusted by this man, was even more appalled at how he died. Do you think that was very humane? Because anyone who says so is extremely cruel.

Yes I am familiar with the economical reasons behind Edison's creating the electric chair which had more to do with the bottom line than the means of execution. Selecting only one method of execution as the standard ignores death by lethal injection, firing squad, hanging etc. If you would like debate whether the punishment is just might be a better venue than methodology, because frankly the pain of a serial killer is slightly low on the totem pole of my concerns. The Death Penalty is society's ultimate sanction, it's application should always be judicious and measured but it has it's place for specific individuals that had no mercy when they committed the act that they are being held accountable for. There is always the argument that it does not deter anyone from committing a heinous act but I will counter that dead men are permanently removed from the gene pool, eliminating further transgression in or out of confinement. I sincerely believe in the concept of evil that exists without remorse or conscience. I would reserve my concept of mercy for the questionable convictions which is why I rely upon our system of appeal and review of capital cases to weigh the validity of their respective convictions and sentences.

Edited April 22, 2012 by Aurielius

[Ghogiel]

Eliminating someone from the gene pool... I don't think there is currently evidence of any sort of violent or criminal genes. Also they could have already been a parent. Not sure what that counters.

 

The 2 main arguments put forth in this thread as far as I can tell: killing the offender makes some people feel better and killing the offender costs less money.

Edited April 22, 2012 by Ghogiel