Restorative Justice....

Warning: This post is stuffed full of my personal political views. :)

I've been giving some thought to the death penalty lately and something in particular triggered it off this morning.

The United Methodist Church has created a form that gives a person the option of informing prosecutors posthumously that in the event we become a victim of homicide that we do not want them to seek the death penalty against the perpetrator.

I have signed one of those forms.

This is a bit closer to home for me than for some. In the early 90s, someone tried to kill me.

Yes, I was an intended homicide victim.

I don't want to go into all the details because they're not important. What matters is that I've felt the feelings. I know what it is like to want revenge. My life was torn in shreds by the experience. I had to leave in the middle of the night and drive all the way across the country. I lost everything I owned with the exception of the things I could carry in a green garbage bag. It took months before I stopped looking behind me.

That is because I knew the person would be back. The failed attempt was just that.. a failed attempt that would be put right at the earliest opportunity.

I've looked into the face of evil. It has a lasting effect.

I wanted to kill that person. If I am to be brutally honest, at one point it seemed like a viable option. I seriously considered homicide because I didn't see any other way out. The police couldn't protect me. I'm in the wrong social class for that. I couldn't afford to hire security staff. I was a sitting duck.

Does that experience give me the right to lobby legislators who craft public policy, based on my feelings alone?

I certainly hope not. A society where personal feelings of anger and vengeance determine the laws of the land would not be a place I'd want to live.

The US is one of the final holdouts of the industrialized nations in doing away with the death penalty.

The nation that so proudly declares itself a Christian nation still kills people to prove that killing people is wrong. I have studied the Bible and I can not imagine any way to spin Jesus as being pro-death penalty. Of course the precepts of my faith do not allow killing. There is simply no justification for it, beyond (perhaps) self-defense.

One of the arguments I frequently hear is that society needs to be protected.

Life Without Parole will do that.

What say you?
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I may not post again until November 1 when NaBloPoMo begins. If everyone hasn't had their fill of me yet, they will get it then. :)

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Saddam....

As is probably predictable, I was upset to hear about the execution of Saddam Hussein. As is probably equally predictable, I am opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances, whether it is an international figure or Scott Peterson. It's wrong.

I get that Saddam was a terrible person. I get that Scott Peterson is a horrible person. That doesn't justify lust for revenge. The image of masked hangmen putting a rope around someone's neck and releasing the switch makes me physically ill. My heart sinks into my stomach and I feel the threat of vomit. This is visceral stuff. The fact that these people are "horrible" doesn't provide an excuse for us to collectively respond in kind. Where does it stop? When does the cycle of violence and revenge stop?

It is nearly 2007. It's nearly 2550 in Thailand. As much as I want to trust in the human spirit and our inherent ability to overcome barbarism, something like this happens and that faith slowly swirls down the drain.

Killing people to prove that killing people is wrong. State-sanctioned homicide is still homicide. Dancing in the streets and celebrating anyone's death ~ collective scheudenfruede ~ is perverted and twisted. It is so base that I can't even imagine it. It's a sick horror movie. I expect green pea soup projectiles and spinning heads. At the end, the credits will roll and we'll be reminded that it was only a movie, just a fantasy, intended to generate fear in bored, numb viewers.

We need to grow beyond this.


Peace,


~Chani