THE DEATH PENALTY -- PART 3: WHAT NOW?

I used to support the death penalty.

And I despise violent crime as much as anyone. It's easy to hate someone who perpetrates an act that deprives another of their life or their humanity.

But the fact is, we diminish our own humanity, as a race, by condoning the death penalty. It appeals to our sense of vengeance rather than our sense of decency.

One does not have to side with the criminal or forgive the crime to say no to executions. One only has to look within and see that our desire to take an eye for an eye stems from our own worst impulses.

Furthermore:

-- The law, such as it is in any given case, often gets it wrong. How can we live with that?
-- And did you know that it generally costs more to put someone to death, after all the appeals and so forth, than it does to incarcerate them for life?
-- And is life without parole really letting the murderer off lightly? If you know anything about prisons, you know the answer to that is "no."
-- And execution, in any form, is neither clinical nor humane. Even death by lethal injection is horrendously cruel: The sedated inmate may look calm on the outside but his/her internal organs are erupting as the poisons flow into his/her system. If execution is not cruel and unusual punishment, what is?
-- If death penalties are supposed to send a message about murder, shouldn't they be applied to the White House?
-- The United Nations, that body that the U.S. alternately dominates and disregards, has condemned the death penalty. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/un-calls-halt-executions-20071218

The U.S. is behind the rest of the so-called democratic world on this issue when it should be leading the way. Why are we so barbaric?

We must ALWAYS think of the victims and their families. But we should also bear in mind that those closest to tragedy are in the worst position to adjudicate on the crime. It is emotion, as much as anything, that continues to fuel the death engine.

So what can you do?

Here is a link about 10-10-2010, "World Day Against the Death Penalty":
http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/world-day-against-the-death-penalty-october-10-2010/page.do?id=1721023 It includes a link to 10 things you can do. Some are very simple. But every voice counts.

Another good site for information: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/

If we are to have a more humane world, then we must become more humane. There is no greater test of that than mercy for those who are most easy to despise.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS POST INTERESTING you might like to read "THE DEATH PENALTY -- PT. 1: SOME BACKGROUND" and "THE DEATH PENALTY -- PT. 2: I AM TROY DAVIS".