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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 22, 2016 at 6:10 pm
(This post was last modified: January 22, 2016 at 6:16 pm by Excited Penguin.)
Can someone explain to me why they would be for the capital punishment? What sense does it make to punish someone just for the sake of retribution? Do you think it will stop similar crimes from happening by way of threatening to kill those who commit them? Is there any proof that the prospect of dying for committing murder is a greater (or effective at all) deterrent than spending decades in prison is?
How is it that most of the civilised world has long shed this barbaric practice and have been the better for it and yet some of you think it will work better in your case and that you know better what you're doing than what the evidence actually shows? How far can this sort of blind arrogance go? How far does this sort of effectively murderous mentality go? You do realise, by agreeing with it, you're basically psychopaths who are condemning your own fellow citizens to death? Doesn't this strike anyone as odd at all?
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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 22, 2016 at 7:23 pm
Death penalty with the convicted offered the option of lobotomy.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 22, 2016 at 8:31 pm
(This post was last modified: January 22, 2016 at 8:32 pm by God of Mr. Hanky.)
(January 22, 2016 at 11:31 am)LadyForCamus Wrote: (January 22, 2016 at 8:38 am)Jehanne Wrote: For those of you who support the death penalty, what is your consideration on the emotional trauma which executions causes strangers. Consider the case of children who have hung themselves after an execution:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2773792
Or, for that matter, death penalty protesters who sob and wail outside of the death house, a common occurrence? Are the deaths of these little children and the emotional scars upon complete strangers necessary? What purpose do executions serve, given the fact that murder is one of the lowest recidivist crimes?
That execution was televised, which hopefully would never happen in this country, and what the hell kind of parents let their children watch a live execution?! You can hardly blame capital punishment for these tragic deaths...
Only the kind of parents who raise their children in countries where capital punsishment is accepted without controversy.
Did you really miss the coverage of Saddam Hussein's public execution? We really are on a slippery slope here!
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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 22, 2016 at 8:49 pm
(This post was last modified: January 22, 2016 at 8:54 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
The death penalty allows us to enact a definitive and final sentence upon the workings of an uncertain and demonstrably flawed system. Against it.
Accepting that we can (and often do) get it wrong, and that the actions we take are entirely for our own benefit (and not for the benefit of the condemned) it's difficult to see how we would justify anything more involved than life imprisonment. Killing people is just lazy and expensive.
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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 22, 2016 at 11:04 pm
(January 22, 2016 at 6:10 pm)Excited Penguin Wrote: Can someone explain to me why they would be for the capital punishment? What sense does it make to punish someone just for the sake of retribution? Do you think it will stop similar crimes from happening by way of threatening to kill those who commit them? Is there any proof that the prospect of dying for committing murder is a greater (or effective at all) deterrent than spending decades in prison is?
How is it that most of the civilised world has long shed this barbaric practice and have been the better for it and yet some of you think it will work better in your case and that you know better what you're doing than what the evidence actually shows? How far can this sort of blind arrogance go? How far does this sort of effectively murderous mentality go? You do realise, by agreeing with it, you're basically psychopaths who are condemning your own fellow citizens to death? Doesn't this strike anyone as odd at all?
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Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 23, 2016 at 12:21 am
(January 22, 2016 at 8:31 pm)God of Mr. Hanky Wrote: (January 22, 2016 at 11:31 am)LadyForCamus Wrote: That execution was televised, which hopefully would never happen in this country, and what the hell kind of parents let their children watch a live execution?! You can hardly blame capital punishment for these tragic deaths...
Only the kind of parents who raise their children in countries where capital punsishment is accepted without controversy.
Did you really miss the coverage of Saddam Hussein's public execution? We really are on a slippery slope here!
But again...why are parents allowing their kids to watch this stuff? That's all I'm saying.
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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 23, 2016 at 12:26 am
(January 23, 2016 at 12:21 am)LadyForCamus Wrote: But again...why are parents allowing their kids to watch this stuff? That's all I'm saying.
I remember a conversation I once had with a teacher during the release of Passion of the Christ.
Parents were allowing their small children into the theater to watch that bloodbath of a horror film.
The parents' excuse was that it really happened.
The teacher's response was Real violence happens in this world every day, it doesn't mean I will allow my child to watch it.
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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 23, 2016 at 6:59 am
I think offering humane suicide to (proper) life sentence inmates is kinder than forcing them to choose between (potentially) a life which is continually miserable and killing themselves in an improvised fashion.
I would suggest the option not to be available for a certain amount of time after the sentence starts, because you're not likely to be in your right mind after receiving such crushing news. But after (carefully chosen length of time), if an independent agent agrees that the person really wants suicide, is in as sound mental state as they are ever likely to be, and isn't being coerced (the hardest bit) then they are allowed the release of death.
To keep me alive in prison would be tantamount to torturing me. I'd end up probably repeatedly trying to kill myself, and quite likely failing.
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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 23, 2016 at 11:01 am
(January 23, 2016 at 6:59 am)robvalue Wrote: I think offering humane suicide to (proper) life sentence inmates is kinder than forcing them to choose between (potentially) a life which is continually miserable and killing themselves in an improvised fashion.
I would suggest the option not to be available for a certain amount of time after the sentence starts, because you're not likely to be in your right mind after receiving such crushing news. But after (carefully chosen length of time), if an independent agent agrees that the person really wants suicide, is in as sound mental state as they are ever likely to be, and isn't being coerced (the hardest bit) then they are allowed the release of death.
To keep me alive in prison would be tantamount to torturing me. I'd end up probably repeatedly trying to kill myself, and quite likely failing.
This reminds me of Kurt Russell's Escape from New York 1981 film.
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RE: Atheism & the Death Penalty.
January 23, 2016 at 11:03 am
(January 23, 2016 at 6:59 am)robvalue Wrote: I think offering humane suicide to (proper) life sentence inmates is kinder than forcing them to choose between (potentially) a life which is continually miserable and killing themselves in an improvised fashion.
I would suggest the option not to be available for a certain amount of time after the sentence starts, because you're not likely to be in your right mind after receiving such crushing news. But after (carefully chosen length of time), if an independent agent agrees that the person really wants suicide, is in as sound mental state as they are ever likely to be, and isn't being coerced (the hardest bit) then they are allowed the release of death.
To keep me alive in prison would be tantamount to torturing me. I'd end up probably repeatedly trying to kill myself, and quite likely failing.
I'm not so sure that we should allow people to kill themselves in any other circumstances than when they are in extreme physical pain which cannot be relieved, and/or fatally diseased.
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