I believe it deters the lesser criminals. those who are in a proper state of
mind and thinking about it, think, dang! I'll be put to death.
But mostly I support the death penalty because I think it is unfair to the
rest of us that some one commit such a heinous act as taking another's life
and then be allowed to live out their life, even if it is in prison, hell 3
squares, cable, library and college all free of charge, even if they can't
ever use it many get law degrees just because they can. Hell some ( I have
heard) have found loop holes and precedents to use in their own defense.
Yeah, I'm sure the families of victims find great solace in the killer
washing his hands of the crime when he gives his sin to god.. When you kill
some one you forfeit all rights and chances at redemption, we make it too
easy to kill people and then say we're sorry that we've found religion and
feel right.
I wasn't aware of a poll or study that asked potential killers what deterred
them from committing the crime. I think just the opposite I think severe
penalties defer a great deal of crime, leaving us with only the nuts and
hard core criminals to deal with and keeping many people in line.
I agree with your final point somewhat, if we can eliminate the support
without as much loss of life, I'm for it, though I disagree that killing
them wouldn't have any affect, obviously at some level bin laden himself
isn't looking to be a martyr, he sends his followers out to die from the
safety of Afghanistan. And again I think when the penalty is swift death,
many would be bombers and terrorists will think twice, leaving us with the
martyrs and nuts. But they are fewer.
J.
John Wilker
Web Applications Consultant
Macromedia Certified ColdFusion Developer
www.red-omega.com <http://www.red-omega.com>
What does Snoop Dogg use to do his laundry? Blee-otch!
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 11:13 PM
To: CF-Community
Subject: RE: Communication about the attack
"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the
pursuit of justice is no virtue." -- Barry Goldwater.
As I said before, I generally oppose the death penalty. I oppose it for the
simple reason that it does no good. It is not a deterrent to murder because
people who murder never consider the consequences or they believe they will
never be caught or, as Tim McVeigh, they believe too strongly in the
righteousness of their cause. It is better for a murderer to rot in jail
(preferably in solitary) than to be offered an easy escape from whatever
conscience he may have or may develop. Also, as a Christian, I believe
every sinner should be afforded every opportunity to make his or her peace
with God. An execution cuts short God's redemptive opportunities. Men, such
as Burkowitz (sp?) (Son of Sam) have come to Christ while serving life
sentences. This is a good thing.
But again, let me emphasize my main point -- execution does no good. No
execution has ever saved an innocent life.
And merely killing terrorists is a futile effort. These are crazy people who
believe in death they only become martyrs, so they welcome death. They do
not fear death at the hands of those they seek to terrorize. Killing them
will not stop terrorism because there will, potentially, be more terrorists
rise up.
But they can only rise up if they have the means to exact terror.
How do they get these means? -- from sponsoring states. The countries that
harbor terrorists are the weak link in the terrorism chain. Also, the
training facilities and staging facilities in these countries make terrorism
possible.
In any war -- make no mistake, this is a war -- the practical strategy is to
destroy the enemies ability to fight and to break the people's will to
fight.
Once the "safe harbors" for these terrorists have been identified, the same
rules of engagement that apply in any war must be applied. We must bomb the
terrorist outposts. We must bomb the military, government and industrial
installations of the countries that harbor these terrorists. Of course, we
do not want to see innocent blood shed, but that is a risk that must be
accepted.
We are not talking about taking lives; we are talking about saving lives --
not just the lives of Americans, but the lives of every freedom-loving
person in the world today, and we are protecting freedom for future
generations.
Terrorists must have nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. No government that
knowingly harbors terrorists should be allowed to feel safe or secure.
This is the only just and moral course of action. All civilized nations must
declare war on terrorism because it is the only course of action that might,
hopefully, rid the world of any people who might contemplate engaging in
terrorism.
If we take the so-called high road we have not really proven ourselves
morally superior. What we have done is proven ourselves cowards who are
willing to blithely accept the role of victims. We have not taken the high
road; we have taken the low road -- the low road to more senseless death and
destruction; the low road to the unthinkable proposition that it is okay for
terrorists to kill and injury innocent people.
People who value the sanctity of life cannot in good conscience trod that
road.
H.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com
Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
