[Vision2020] Re: Only the short sighted think Death Penalty MustBe Aboli...

[Matt Decker]

Ted,

I feel that you have missed my point again.

I am not argueing that death penalty and torture can and have been used as a 
"TOOL" of a dictatorship. I would also say that taxation and education or 
lack of, of our youth could also be used too. There are many tools. If you 
feel we are going that route of a dictatorship, well I would disagree but 
also respect your opinion. I think you might be a little paranoid on this 
one Ted.

My point is how in our current society do we use this as a mean of a 
dictatorship? A tool, sure I'll give you that, but our society does not use 
the deathpenalty to deny any one of their rights(yes I know the not guilty 
have it bad, that is why I am torn on this one). The reason for the death 
penalty is to punish the guilty, not oppress anyone, or deny them their 
rights, although it happens time to time.

Ted I got to say I am swaying on this issue. I would like to know what will 
happen to those who will take matters into their own hands when justice is 
not met, in their eyes. Will they too get life or a decreased sentence.

Take care,
MD


>From: "Ted Moffett" <starbliss at gmail.com>
>To: "Matt Decker" <mattd2107 at hotmail.com>, vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Re: Only the short sighted think Death Penalty 
>MustBe Aboli...
>Date: Mon, 8 May 2006 19:55:06 -0700
>
>Matt et. al.
>
>To the extent that the USA allows legal practices that resemble the tactics
>if a dictatorship, it has more potential to become one, a matter of degree.
>If you recall, I said that the future potential to use the death penalty 
>for
>human rights abuses is reason enough to ban the practice, even when a
>government appears as fair and certain about who it sentences to death as 
>it
>possibly can.  But no government can guarantee that in the future it will
>not be compromised and become tyrannical.  One basic principle to guard
>against this is to grant the government the most limited powers over its 
>own
>citizens consistent with fulfilling the functions of government.  It is
>clear that life imprisonment without chance of parole can be substituted 
>for
>the death penalty while maintaining the governments ability to fulfill its
>basic functions.  No chance of executing the innocent, unfairly applying 
>the
>death penalty to those who cannot afford the best defense or those who are
>sentenced with a bias due to race or sex, and no slippery slope potential
>for a tyrannical hysteria to result in the execution of prisoners for
>political reasons, such as the questionable execution of the Rosenberg's
>during the Joe McCarthy era.
>
>In fact, in the USA, the unfair application of the death penalty more
>frequently for the poor and some minorities, not to mention the 
>unacceptable
>number of innocents who have either been on death row or executed, are
>examples of human rights abuses involving the application of the death
>penalty in the USA.  Anyone can look up this information very easily, so I
>won't list sources.
>
>The US is now using torture to pursue the war on terror.  Does this make 
>the
>USA a dictatorship?  No, but justifying this practice, just as justifying
>the death penalty, makes the USA closer to a dictatorship in its tactics 
>and
>philosophy, and again, just as with the death penalty, the use of torture
>as a justified "legal" tactic has troubling potential for an expanded abuse
>of this practice in the future.
>
>If the death penalty was such a necessary tool for stopping crime and
>maintaining order in society, we would see nations that do not use the 
>death
>penalty in some serious trouble regarding crime rates.  But many nations
>without the death penalty have lower crime rates than the USA.  Again, this
>is easy for anyone to verify, so I won't list sources.  Of course it could
>be argued that they might have even lower crime rates if they used the 
>death
>penalty, but the claim that the death penalty is necessary to maintain 
>basic
>civil order is a very weak argument given the reality of the
>social/political situation in many nations without the death penalty.
>
>The bottom line for many death penalty supporters is the retribution
>argument.  They view some crimes as being so egregious that only the death
>penalty will balance the scales of justice.  For those who think this sort
>of moral rule applies above all other considerations, it may be irrelevant
>whether the death penalty might be abused in the future or whether or not
>the death penalty is a reliable deterrent.
>
>We could analyze this argument from the point of view of two opposing moral
>principles that are a part of the Judeo-Christian ethical tradition: the 
>Old
>Testament's "an eye for an eye" or the New Testament's "turn the other
>cheek" and/or "love your enemies."
>
>It is an amazing expression of how the Bible can be interpreted in opposite
>ways when it is used to both justify the use of the death penalty and to
>argue against it, and in fact we see a rather severe chasm between millions
>of serious Christians who think the death penalty a grave moral wrong, and
>those who insist it is commanded by God if applied correctly.  Both sides
>argue vehemently that they hold the moral high ground, yet both cannot be
>right.
>
>I appreciate the consistency of the Vatican's approach, being against
>abortion and the death penalty as a matter of consistent application of
>their moral principles, though I do support a women's right to choose, with
>some limitations.
>
>Luke 6:27 "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to 
>those
>who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 
>29
>If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone
>who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to
>everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask
>for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
>------------
>
>Ted Moffett


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