I have this urge to respond to two of Durf's comments and then offer up a final conundrum.
First a small quibble. I do *not* believe that most of those who abjure capital punishment are more concerned with protecting the guilty than the innocent. I suspect that the majority are fearful of executing an innocent. But even if it were the case that the majority simply oppose executing another individual, I'd be willing to bet it is more about the issue than the individual. Certainly true in my case.
As for the emotional response, I can't say I feel sorry for those who have committed murder and are about to die. I am, simply, horrified that we see execution as a solution to one of society's problems.
Now the conundrum. What do we do with murderers if we don't gas, hang, shoot, or fry them? Lacking a better solution, I thought dropping them (all of them) onto Gilligan's Island would work for me. Drop them and forget them. Of course if any of them build a boat and try to return to civilization, I guess we'd have to shoot 'em.
I am more of a poet than a polemicist, so I will just say "Thou shall not kill" is a hard bill to collect.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't sound like Twila a year ago.
ReplyDeleteRapists of children and..
What do you do with them?
I agree, Arthur. And what about Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden? If either of them were still alive and, say, in prison for life, they would remain inspirations for jihadists. If someone is beyond redemption it's best to simply get rid of them, squeamish or not.
ReplyDelete