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+ The supreme irony of life is that...

...hardly anybody makes it out alive. +

"An eye for an eye and everybodies blind"
~Kathleen Sally

I am actually in favor of the death penalty. All monetary issues aside (because, let's face it, that's not really important to our government if they get what they want) I believe that some people are too deranged to live in society. Jail is meant to contain those people until they die, to protect us from them. But the death penalty would keep those facilities open to those that aren't beyond rehabilitation. It would lessen the need for increased facilities. Used in appropriate measure, it could actually decrease costs for the justice system, overall.

As a moderate counterpoint, I don't believe in using it on murderers (even serial or mass murderers). I don't believe that the death penalty should apply to anyone except 2 rather specific types of criminals. Those types are rapists, and child molesters. Period. I think they should be given 5 years to file for appeals (in case of false evidence, or framing). That's it. Then, execute them, and bury the body. Give them a funeral (for their family's sake), and call it a day.

The murderers ... they can all figure out how to live together in jail. But anyone that would violate someone's will and mind that way .... especially in the case of child molestation .... I don't believe that they will ever be useful members of society. I believe they will always be detractors. Right up until the moment that they die, which is why I'd like for that moment to come sooner for those people. Sometimes it infuriates me to the point of volunteering for the job. Of all the crimes ever conceived, those 2 are so beyond retrievable for any human soul, that I do believe that they should be executed.
[/rape tirade]

As a summary, I am for the death penalty, but in a much more limited (and specific) usage.

I'm both for and against the death penalty (much like how I am about abortion).

Morally, I think it's wrong. Like Belegorad said, "An eye for an eye and we're all blind." To kill someone just because they killed someone is just wrong.

However, there's just a part of me that would like to see some of those people put to death sentencing. Llama, I can't imagine what it must have been like to be raped. I haven't experienced it and I don't ever want to. However, if that had happened to me I think I would want my rapist dead. I'm a girl who thrives a lot on hatred. I'm all happy and smiley on the outside, but on the inside I'm an angry, violent person. It's just how I am.

I'm torn whether I'm for or against it. Right now I'm still in a bit of a gray area because I contradict myself.

I'm against the death penalty.
Not for moral reasons, or anything like that.
Just because they should have to live with what they've done; death is the easy way out.

BUT it costs so much money to keep people in prison for life, or long periods of time, and governments are normally in favour of stuff which saves money.

First paragraph is the rough idea, the rest is a DnD heavy reference if need be. Alright, alright, the really basic runthrough is at the bottom. mrgreen


I believe me and my friend T- had a short yet deep discussion yesterday, which can apply to this, not to mention practically anything else involving opposing sides. No matter what, one side of anything must contain at least a minimal amount of its opposite. Without this mote of difference within said thing, it would then become that which it is the opposite of by default. If chaos has not a hint of law, and is completely 100% pure, then in truth, it is law in and of itself.

I think this touches into relativity, and without the underrunning understanding between I and whom I am speaking to, I cannot quite tell how clearly I am getting this across. Read farther, if you don't mind DnD related reference points to work from. mrgreen

[Reference 1]
T- Believes that Lolth, drow 'Goddess of Chaos', should soon have judgement passed upon her from Ao and the other gods. He infers this, because she has grown much too predictable in her actions, and is therefore not truely following the portfolio indicated of in her title. Her worshippers follow a great number of laws, most of which being rigidly enforced by her almost directly to be followed to the T.

[Examples]
1. The 'upper class' follow a clearly specified order of Great Houses, from the most powerful to the least.
2. Women in drow society are those who have the power. The highest status any male can possibly achieve is being the arch-wizard, and the most that this status gives is basically the task of relighting the obelisk which marks the time of day every 24 hours.
3. Spiders are never to be killed, under any circumstances. Empty cobwebs may be removed, but that is the most you can do, and only weeks after the occupant has disappeared.
4. Lolth's plain itself follows a rather rigid cycle of events. By day, innumerable spiders fight upon its surface to their deaths, until a single strong one may remain standing. At night, frigid airs blow through the corpse riddled wastes, clearing and decaying it a bit before the next dawn's slaughter commences.
domokun (Enough for my point to have weight, I think) domokun

[Reference 2]
The Modron are a race of purely lawful creatures. T- had the idea, that using such a point as relativity between the sides of lawful good and lawful evil, these computer-like beings could possibly be taught the basic meanings of something being good or evil. Boiled down, the point would be in how good strives to build upon its set limits in ways which would keep them under contract within unexpected incidents that may arise. On the other end, those which are evil would do what they may to break themselves free, by exploitation of these same circumstances outside of their binding words.


[Personal]
Basically, I am for the greatest number of acceptable options, extending throughout what circumstances there may ever be. I am for abortion, because there are times in which the birth of another may be immensely more detrimental than ever necessary. I am for this penalty, because people do exist which are better sent directly to their final destination, that less evils may be committed overall than if they were allowed continuation. I am for allowing public ownership of guns, for it is greatly in favor of good's majority, giving them a tool with which to fight back when those meaning ill arise to create victims, thus deterring many, and enabling a fighting chance in the arisal of inevitable events... You've the idea by now. burning_eyes /rant mrgreen


[Quick Runthrough] (for the lazy,tired,ect.)
My point, is that we should follow through with what necessary evils that may be. If one is known to repeat their errors through any form of their own intent or overall decisions, then the greater good for the world would be to remove them of that capacity, through the worst possible means if need be. If redemption is forseeable in great enough of an amount as to outweight or balance well with the risks, then they are to be given a fair manner by which to reach said redemption. mrgreen

Mm, I was worried that that article would be something like that >.< . It's why I asked my government teacher, since she seemed real smart and knew a lot about this sort of stuff. Eh, guess that one's not so good then, eh? Thanks for explaining that to me, I was always hesitant to post that when a death penalty topic came up in case it would be untrue or something ^^; .

I actually found the article from going to wikipedia and seeing it's external links. I read... a bit of the article, I don't even remember why I stopped. I had actually started looking into death penalty due to a project in that government class; we had to go on a debate team to argue either for or against death penalty. It was shoddy, but it gave me time to think about it.

I haven't read that article yet (as I've been very lazy, lying around in me undies in my parent's (large, spacious, comfortable, and air conditioned) room all day and stuff >.o), but I will... tomorrow maybe? I just don't feel like thinking or working at all right now.

I still feel the same, luckily, as I felt this way before reading any articles on it. I don't tend to base any strong beliefs on some article I read, as then I would always be unsure of myself and my opinion >.< .

<3 Ali