5 Minutes In The Death Penalty Box

Up until this moment I have always believed that the death penalty was justified. I have always supported this with the argument that you need a punishment so severe that it would prevent people from committing murder. But is it really a deterrant?

I wasn't able to find any statistics on it, but I believe that most murders are caused by the heat of the moment. In the heat of the moment you don't care or have the time to think about the consequences. That would leave most of the murders left in the categories of crazy people and people who don't give a shit if they get the needle anyway. So none of these people were prevented from killing by the thought of being killed in turn. If this is true, and I think it is, then all the death penalty really boils down to is revenge. And if that is the case then anybody should be able to do it. If somebody murders my brother and I murder them back it's revenge but if the state throws the switch it's punishment? It doesn't make sense.

The atomic bomb is similar. The atomic bombs were dropped intentionally on two cities. Not military bases, cities. Is it worth winning if we are forced to emulate the atrocities of our opponent? I don't know. Can I honestly say I wouldn't kill a few thousand people to save a few million? I don't know.

I once read a book where beings created 17 great weapons in the hope that they would be so horrible that no one would ever use them and it would end all war. It kinda reminded me of the arms race during the Cold War. The mentality of the arms race is basically, "If we have the biggest gun then nobody will shoot at us because they'll be too afraid we'll shoot back." Maybe it's because men run most world governments. "If we make a dick big enough we can fuck the entire planet!" (My friend Amanda calls it something akin to a dick wagging contest but it's not nearly as funny without her pantomime).

I've gotten slightly off topic, but there are striking similarities between the death penalty and these. I guess my basic point about the death penalty is this. Shouldn't a man have the right to seek forgiveness from himself, his peers, whatever higher power he believes in, and those he's wronged? Yes.

Unless he killed somebody I like. Then I don't know.

I just don't know

Until next time, True Believers...
The bottle is empty
And the well is dry
February 2008

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