inspired by @JasonFalconetti | what do you think of the death penalty? do you think it's right or wrong?
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It's wrong. Crime should be for the sake of deterrence only, not retribution, and the death penalty has been s hown not to help for deterrece. Even if it did, it's overstepping our authority as human beings. Here's what I wrote in response to someone's post on Facebook regarding Dylann Roof and the death penalty:
"I don't know who Roof is, but I'm against the death penalty for a couple of reasons. One is that we don't even understand the nature of life or death well enough for it not to be arrogant and playing God for us to sentence people by means of death.
Another is that it's based purely on revenge/retribution. I don't believe vengeance/retribution should have any place in justice, it's just a vile emotion and practically a form of schadenfreude. I can't even remotely believe that the actual best thing to do for all involved is ever to hurt someone just for the sake of making them suffer or be damaged (death being the ultimate form of damage).
There's no such thing as what somebody "deserves", except insofar as everybody always deserves what's best for them and everybody else.
Whatever someone is or does, there are reasons for that. We should strive to understand that rather than allowing our hearts to feel hatred. Mike Dooley put it well in 'Choose Them Wisely: Thoughts Become Things!":
'Have you ever wondered how you might behave in someone else's shoes? If you have, you'll likely admit that this kind of thinking is usually critical of the person of the person you're thinking about. The truth is, you are the other person, and they are behaving exactly as you would if you were indeed in the exact same shoes--however inconsiderate, abusive, outrageous, or immoral their behavior is.'
'True, you are probably more thoughtful, fearless, loving, and honest than those who disappoint you. But you are also at a different point in your journey, maybe "more advanced," or maybe just more at ease for having chosen a less "challenging" path. We're all of "one," exhibiting different colors of the same light, and rather than passing judgment, it's best to remember that each of us is just doing the best we can.'"
"The compulsion to make someone suffer or die as a result of their actions is a product of hatred, of course, and I wrote a lot about hatred in an answer to the question "Is hatred ever truly justified?" here: http://www.ratemyidea.net:8080/book/online%20posts/retrospring/retrospring%20-%20is%20hatred%20ever%20justified.orig.txt "
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Since Jason's question was about Dylann Roof too I'll also paste what I said about him specifically on Facebook:
Now that I know what Dylann Roof did and what he said, I just want to say that I still don't see him as so evil that I just want to kill him. I just see him as a very angry person who's full of hatred and conviction. I know people say this a lot in a passive-aggressive way, but I really mean it: I feel about as much bad for him for living in the state of mind he's living in as I feel disgust. Of course, I also feel bad for all the people who died by his hand, it's not like he's more important than the 9 or so people he killed just because he's nevertheless worthy of compassion.
I won't feel happy when he dies, I'll just feel like another flame has been extinguished. He'll no longer have the opportunity to better himself, to grow past his hatred, to feel or express remorse or make amends for those wrongdoings he did. He'll no longer have the opportunity to aid humanity in its eternal seeking of itself. Even now, what he did is simply an expression of one of the many possible modes of being human, thus he's participated in the dance of life, and if he's performed any more specifically functional purpose it's to help show humanity to itself. Like Hitler and the Nazis did, etc.