Mr. Steadman and I share some strong feelings on the death penalty. That's all I will say on the matter, as this blog was never intended to be a moral forum. Have a nice day. Addendum: I see Haitian thugs patrolling the rubbled streets in gangs armed with machetes. They should be shot on sight, no questions asked. So, I guess I do believe in a situational death penalty. Guys, this moral judgement stuff is still hard even after 60+ years.
2 comments:
I am not religious, but I think that any sort of violence as a reaction to another act of violence only escalates the pain and suffering that already exist. Killing someone because they've killed doesn't constitute justice or even retribution, much less healing.
As for the discussion about capital punishment: It doesn't serve as a deterrent to murder. Most people who think about the punishment they'd receive for killing someone weren't going to kill anyway. Also, all one has to do is to look at Illinois and Michigan.
Each state is similar in size, population, demographics and economics. Each state also has one of the largest and most crime-ridden cities in the country. And both have similar crime rates in spite of the fact that Illinois has the death penalty and Michigan hasn't had it since 1848. (In fact, Michigan was the first government in the English-speaking world to outlaw the death penalty.)
My reaction to the gangs is not one of punishment, justice or retribution. I just looked at the situation on the news and thought about how that chaos could be stabilized. The only answer I can come up with is a hammer.
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