Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Death Penalty: Humane or Sin
Well, I was inspired by the men in my weekly men's group to share my thoughts and feelings on this super-controversial issue. Obviously there is a lot of energy around this topic. There are some interesting ironies around the topic. Many "christians" who believe the bible is to be taken literally are super in favor of the death penalty even though one of the ten comandments says "thou shalt not kill". Many "non-christians" who don't believe in the bible are against it. When I ponder the issue, I ask myself "what do I believe is best for humanity?" This is not based upon religion, dogma or the fact that I lean toward the liberal side of politics. I just go inside and ask my feelings and higher self for guidance. We just watched a show recently where they talked to the woman that drowned her 5 children a few years back. She claimed that she did it because she was guided to do so and that she believed that it would be best for her and everyone if she were put to death. This is obviously a tormented soul who appears to be incapable of rehabilitation. Still, the system keeps her in prison against her will and the will of anyone who believes in the death penalty. To me it's not black and white AND I feel that anyone in prison who feels a danger to society and would like to "check out" permanently should be given that opportunity. I also am very much in favor of the death penalty for mass murderers ie. Jim Jones, Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, Hanibal Lector types since they are a constant danger to other prisoners, guards, wardens etc and I truly believe that anyone willing to take part in that behavior is deeply tormented and would be receiving a favor to be put out of their misery. I know this may bother some of you AND I'm open to changing my mind if I were enlightened to another view that made more humane sense to me. Ultimately, I think it's a personal opinion and society as a whole should decide what it feels is the most humane thing to do. One last thing: there is also an argument that "what if innocent people die because of the death penalty?" Well, I don't really think that's a fair argument since everything we do has the potential to adversely affect innocent people. Do we stop putting people in jail because there is the potential for innocent people to go? Do we stop driving because there is a chance that people will die? I know I'm putting myself out here but I also believe that 2012 is about transparency so here it is folks.!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Well, I was afraid of this one but I read anyway. I actually got a few laughs in. I don't know the statistics now, but when I ran them 10 yrs. ago it was very easy to conclude that in our system, the death penalty is racist & classist. Lets face it, you don't want to screw up in Texas, you can be mentally handicapped there, and they will put you to death. I also became very interested in the work of the Innocence Project, helping with the use of DNA to bring peoples innocence out into the Light.
ReplyDeleteI think it comes down to where we are evolving to as a people. As a humanity. I understand some of your arguments, and if I believed that death of the body were any kind of escape I could understand that womans feeling. She must be in living hell everyday on this Earth. I am at times swayed by my emotions to say "put them out of their misery."I also can't imagine how I would feel if I were family or friend of a murder victim. It is out of that respect, that I have never chosen to do a vigil with others as someone is being put to death.
As a people, I hope and pray that Dr. King's words "the arc of the universe bends towards justice" is coming true, one day at a time.
As a humanity, I pray our hearts can bend towards this justice. That the Innocent will find Freedom. That those of us who have the Freedom of Voice use that Voice as we are guided. Whether that is to uplift, bring the voice of justice to injustice, or to nurture a child.
As a people, as a humanity, we need to get a hold on the real feeling of love one another. And loving our neighbor as we would, can, and better, love ourselves. Because it is in true self love that we create better outcomes. True love cannot hold hostage or prisoner. True love cannot be put to death. True Love can only continue to spread it's wings and fly. That's where we are heading. Levitation (sorry had to throw an LOL in at the end).
In Peace and True Love,
Nelle