---------- At National Polemic ----------
In a thread over at Democracy Forums, a member (IndieVisable) argued that,
Quote: "Sure I would support death sentence for some crimes, like extreme hideous one's or the killing of children! But I would want built in safe guards so to avoid killing a innocent person who feel between the cracks of the legal system. A manditory 5-10 year wait period".
and I responded by saying that,
"I'm sorry, but I don't think it would be any more of a crime for a man to kill my wife than it would for him to kill your child. Children are not more valuable than adults and their supposed innocence doesn't make them any less deserving of death, as if simply by growing older we become more expendable and deserving of being murdered.
The problem with reserving the death penalty for even hideous crimes is that the definition of "hideous" is subjective. Democrats might view not paying your taxes as a "hideous crime". It's best to invest in life without parole for the most violent criminals and to spare the expense of the taxpayer those non-violent, non-threatening "criminals" who merely broken the arbitrary laws of our country. Fine them or penalize them, but don't incarcerate them".
Which got me to thinking about this obsession people seem to have with the innocence and value of children. I've never understood this and I think it causes quite a considerable amount of trouble in the lives of adults.
For example, how many husbands have felt their value to their wives diminished when the children began arriving? How many women have even caught themselves making their children a priority over their husbands? Frankly, if I have children, I am going to want to have them see their mother and father making each other the priority in their lives, to prepare them for the tremendous life-long responsibility of being married. My commitments and responsibilities to my wife will continue until I die, but children move out and become independent.
Why should we shrug at the murder of an adult, but be appalled by the murder of a child? It seems like such a revoltingly unequal evaluation of human life! A person who murders a child is no worse than a person who murders a ninety year old or a forty-five year old. A person who kills a woman is no less moral than a person who kills a man. We really carry some seriously skewed ideas about the nature of human value.
How often have politicians told us that we need to do "X" for the Children, because the children are our future! Excuse me, but what possible reason should people be talked into sacrificing their own rights or liberties for the security of their children? Is this really going to make their children's lives any better?
I imagine this will cause quite a stir as people seem to hold children as the holy grail of innocence in innate human value.
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2 comments:
I feel competent to answer your question because in 1984 my sister was murdered by strangers who had gone around the east coast robbing Pizza Huts, kidnapping women and killing them. One was executed for on of the killings but not for killing my sister. It is my understanding that the other three are still in prison.
My 12 year old grandson was murdered in 2002 by his biological father and stepmother.
My sister Mary's murder still haunts me as much as my grandson's murder. But my grandson's murder did more damage to the whole family both psychologically and physically.
I suppose we are shocked and hurt by any murder, but people see children as more helpless. I would have to ask why an adult would allow their own death at the hands of anyone unless they too were made helpless and unable to flee?
I am against the death penalty, I was before the murders and I am today. It doesn't bring back the victims and it diminishes us as a people.
It is like spanking a child and telling them.. "don't hit"..whack whack.."don't hit".
Until we show a respect for life we can never expect those in our society to respect life. It would not give closure to any of us to have one of those animals dead. No closure because closure is a myth. So I see no real use in the death penalty but to give some people the false perception the are "doing something" about the problem of murder.
Pat Dazis
Excellent Response Pat. I couldn't agree more. While my rejection of the Death Penalty is purely political, you make several excellent cultural and psychological points to boot!
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