>From: "Garwood, Robin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 14:50:25 -0500
>
>The suggestion that the life of any human being is worth less than the life
>of any other human being is so morally repugnant... I can't see how anyone
>could say such a thing. Especially anyone who has any value for a country
>founded on the self-evident principle that all persons are created equal.
I agree that all people are created equal; it's after that
creation when they start to live their life that they change this. Some
people live a life that provides a net contribution to the community; other
people live a life that becomes a burden and even a danger to the
community. So it seems self-evident to me that the value of people to the
community is not longer "equal".
But that does NOT mean that they are entitled to anything
less. Under our system of government, everyone -- from the most heinous
criminal to a living saint -- is absolutely entitled to equal rights before
the law. That is what our Constitution & laws are intended to provide -
equal rights for all.
I think people tend to confuse these two ideas. And that's where
problems can arise.
I can certainly argue (exposing some personal bias in this example) that
Martin Luther King was of more value to our society that James Earl Ray
was. But if I go on to say that therefore James Earl Ray shouldn't get the
same level of constitutional rights as Martin Luther King, that's where I
would be going against our American Constitution. And I think that is
what leads to all the bad things Robin listed.
Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson
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