“..Darwinian improvement of society….” An interesting notion….I wonder if it includes his instinct for sympathy?
On Aug 26, 7:06 am, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > *laughing* > > Well, Ian, it's good of you to deign to trifle with us lesser > developed beings. ;) > > On Aug 26, 9:22 am, Ian Pollard <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I'm honestly quite shocked by some people's crude, black and white, > > interpretation of justice. (Some people's attitudes are about what I'd > > expect.) The release of a man to die is a demonstration of a nation's > > supreme humanity. As soon as you de-humanise the culprit -- which is the > > dangerous the step people are taking -- your own humanity is left highly > > questionable. > > Certain crimes, in and of themselves, de-humanize the culprit. Have > you considered that? However, knowing that we are ideological > opposites on the Death Penalty, I know that we have a philosophical > barrier here which prevents us from seeing eye to eye on this issue. > The difference is, you believe that your view is more "enlightened and > developed." C'est la vie. I'm used to dealing with that on various > liberal viewpoints from which there will be no reasonable compromise > in the middle. "You're a barbaric cretin, and I'm being polite to say > so!" No, you're really not, but that's neither here nor there. You > delve onward into the false dichotomy often presented in these > arguments below, so I'll continue there. > > > > > I think people need to proceed more cautiously: search their own mind and > > decide whether they understand, intellectually and emotionally, the > > difference between justice and revenge. There's abundant evidence in this > > thread that people's notions of justice are -- and I'm being as polite as I > > can muster -- under-developed. > > ...and there it is, the false dichotomy. Justice or revenge? Which is > it? You MUST choose! No, actually, you don't have to choose between > those two at all, because you're missing a third alternative > altogether. Darwinian improvement of society. > > Why do I believe in the death penalty? It is neither for justice nor > for revenge. It is because we have identified a risk to society which > is so great that society deserves to be protected from it in the most > sure way possible. This is why I favor the death penalty for crimes > such as serial killers, sexual predators, mass killers (such as > terrorists) and the like, and NOT for single instances of murder. This > is not for justice, or revenge, but to permanently remove said threat > to society. Recidivism among each of these criminal types is near > 100%. There is no point in maintaining a false hope of > "rehabilitation". When wolves attack the village, we do not waver and > hesitate over killing "God's beautiful creatures", we band together as > a people and protect the tribe. > > > > > > He didn't think of it as revenge, he called it "dealing with the > > > consequences of my actions". Is that really a culturally different > > > perspective? > > > Learning the lessons of youth over misdemeanours is some steps removed from > > a life-sentence. I assume you weren't terminally ill at the time, either? > > Four felonies, Ian, with some time involved, and I was 18. Is the > gradient of mercy only called into play with terminal illness? > > > > > I know this is a serious discussion, but I can only think about the scene > > from Monty Python's Holy Grail where the peasants are trying to get the > > witch burnt. :) > > Indeed. When one is adopting a position of moral and intellectual > superiority, it's a common mistake to assume that the countering > viewpoint is that of ignorant peasants. Many a pompous politician has > suffered ignominious defeat when over- calculating their own position > in such a way. > > > > > > > Ian- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
