Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (30759)	2/13/1999 3:44:00 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

E, there have been many discussions of the death penalty at Feelings over the years. There are obviously two strongly held points of view on this issue, and I think I understand them both pretty well, and have chosen the one that is most logical to me. I do not think there is any contradiction at all in my position. I am against the death penalty at the moment because it does discriminate in many ways. However, I do believe that it is possible to have quick trials with much more limited appeals which would be a fairer system, IF everyone who committed first degree murder was executed, without reference to who the victim is, or the race or social class of the criminal, or how contrite the murderer is afterwards, or what special skills or talents he or she has exhibited in prison, or whether God has forgiven him or her. What you have done that I continue to find offensive, however, and which has not been part of previous discussions here, is to make assumptions about me, and insinuate that I cannot be the person I claim to be and still hold a qualified pro-death penalty opinion. You don't know me at all. I certainly would not presume to make similar assumptions about you. I think it is preferable to argue based on logic, not personalities or perceived moral failings of individuals. I would note, however, that this argument is becoming tedious. It is beginning to remind me of the strategies Bill Clinton and his spinmeisters used to blame everyone else--a conservative right-wing conspiracy, Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp, Ken Starr, Paula Jones, Lucianne Goldberg, the Republicans in general--for his problems, without taking and REAL personal responsibility for his actions. He made a victim of himself, in the same way that the anti-death penalty camp seems to make victims of the murderers. No one has a perfect life, but again personal responsibility seems to take a back seat here. In the world of natural consequences, it would seem logical to execute murderers. In the same way, I think it would be more practical to focus on how to help the families and friends of murder victims recover, rather than being overly concerned with the murderers. This is why I said that anti-death penalty proponents could possibly find more productive uses of their time besides picketing and wailing when executions are happening. I also support intensive societal attention to damaged children, who are most likely to commit violent crimes, and a generally more even playing field, so that we don't continue to create so many sociopaths. I think that conflict resolution, and the principles of nonviolence, should be formally taught in schools, starting in kindergarten. I think therapy should be available for everyone who is troubled, and that children should be removed from hopelessly brutal home environments much sooner. And I am willing to pay MORE TAXES to accomplish these ends. Incidentally, here is a quote from a current Newsweek article which begins like this--"Opponents of the death penalty have never had a clear-cut martyr: of the 513 men and women executed since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, not one has later been proved innocent." The rest of the article is cautionary about the death penalty, so the quote does not appear biased. What about all those thirty innocent victims? I think the reason Jim Barrett wanted all their names is so that he could see independently what their stories were. I think this issue has become very polarized and politicized, with both sides attempting to skew reality. newsweek.com