Death Penalty: The Purpose vs The Outcome

It's a simple yet complex process. A man kills another man. There's an investigation and a man is arrested. The case goes to trial and the man is found guilty. A reinment hearing is held to determine penalty and the death penalty is given. It's a simple yet complex process and a persons life will hang in the balance.

Before I get into my views of capital punishment, I feel the need to establish the purpose of this form of punishment. The first and often argued purpose is to punish the guilty. This is probably the strongest reason for it. We need to punish the guilty so that they will not commit further crimes. Often when criminals are released from prinson they are not rehabilitated and so commit more crimes. Without the death penalty we need to find a better way to rehabilitate criminals. For this to work we need to study the criminal more closely. We need to understand what makes them tick and what motivates the repeat criminal? Is it psychological or societal? Should we put criminals through better psychological testing, evaluations and therapy? Does society make it too difficult for the "rehabilitated" to become a part of society again? Or should we just say "screw them"? I don't have the answers here. I can tell you that this leads into another reason for the death penalty. Money. To house, feed, clothe and "rehabilitate" criminals cost money. Let's face it. Capital Punishment costs alot less. Money makes the world go round and anywhere you can save a buck it motivation enough for some. People in government will simple ask "where do you expect the money to come from". To be honest I don't have answers here either. Obviously government money is spread thin as it is, that's why politians drive expensive luxury automobiles, yahts and 8 bed rooms summer homes. Next let me get rid of the worst reason; "it says an eye for an eye in the bible". How do I put this in a PC way? Is anyone who uses this argument nuts!?!? Government and religion are "separate", meaning that the bible has NO say in this. I'm not trying to argue against the bible, just in it's place in the law. Yeah, I know; our laws are based on the Ten Commandments. However our laws are suppose to be based on equality too, so please NEVER bring religion into an arguement like this. Another reason is one everyone would deny. Revenge. As much as we would like to beleive that we are an evolved society, we are not. It's hard to deny the anger we feel at criminals, especially those who commit violent crimes. Unfortunately this is a motivator of many human actions, legal or illegal. Although I feel for the victims, we cannot let this be a determining factor in capital punishment. It would be unethical. The last reason that I could come up with for capital punishment is to protect the public. This is connected to other reasons such as poor rehabilitation and money. If rehabilitation worked then when criminals are released the public would be safe. For the criminals that cannot be rehabilitated we could just keep them in prison till they die however that would cost even more money. The tax payer does not deserve to have to pay for it. I wish there was a way to do it for free however that's not possible.

Well I've given some points both for and against above. Some were really good for convincing me however one simple factor will always play in my mind. Man is falible. We make mistakes. To say that we could not make a mistake and put to death an innocent man is naive. If we were that good there would not be criminals to begin with. I realize that extreme measures are taken to ensure that it doesn't happen but it still could happen. The one thought going through my mind is "what if it were me?" I just cannot live with the guilt of agreeing to kill a man (any man) when I have not fully witnessed and completely comprehended the crime. It's been proven that investigators make mistakes and even some can be corrupted. As long as human beings are running the process, we can screw up. It's a simple yet complex process.

Religion in Schools: Deflate the Argument

Seeing as I'm a 26 year old without kids, I really don't have too much say or the need for an opinion on this subject. As such my only opinion on this is about equality in any decision made on this subject. So I will keep it simple. The best reason for no religion in schools is the fact that not everyone beleives in the same religion. How can they teach Christianity in a public school if their religion is Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism or even Atheists? The only way that religion could be taught in schools in a non-biased way would be to teach all of the worlds religions. That definitely is not likely to happen in this life or the next. Let's say I'm wrong and we find a way to jam ALL the world religions into schools (as unlikely as it is). How do we teach this subject matter in a non-biased way. Everyone has an opinion and that includes the educators. I will give the "pro-religion" one argument on their side. Parents definitely need to talk to their kids about religion and the difference between them but this is another unlikely scenario and it still requires the one thing that the "pro-religion" will never allow: other religions taught. This is why we cannot teach religion in schools.

Yours truly,
The Red Night Blogger

Everyone has an opinion. In history having an opinion often meant persecution. Today it's an outlet for discussion and change. The Interent makes it possible for people of all walks of life to express these opinions. Even the poor can walk into a library and express discontent or support of laws, politics, religion, people and entertainment. At times these opinions can be hurtful; other times they can be empowering. Prior to this night I had rolled my eyes at these "bloggers", thinking that only crazy, lonely people made blogs. Obviously I was wrong given the recent media attention that the "blogger" is getting. Blogs have become a true media and the "crazy" and "lonely" people have gained my respect. As such I attempt to join the ranks and invite the thinkers to make me think. With this blog I will cover my opinion of world politics, religion, environment, entertainment and any other subject that comes to my mind. I fully expect people to consider me either unimportant, illogical or ignorant. Truth be told, everyone at one point or another can be describe this way. I am definitely not a professional journal list, as I am sure it is obvious. I encourage people to voice there opinions of my writing so that we all can share ideas, grow and become better people.

Yours truly,
The Red Night Blogger