Jimmy_Jam
Senior Member
- Sep 29, 2012
- 1,071
- 136
- 48
After having read thru all the comments on this thread - pro or con of death penalty - I never once saw the word REDEMPTION.
I believe that that there is at least a trace of goodness in every human being, even the condemned and convicted killer.
Without going into details, I can say with full confidence and with personal experience, that REDEMPTION is possible, if it is given a chance.
Death Penalty removes that chance forever.
Perhaps I did not use the word "Redemption," but I did at least suggest the opportunity to seek forgiveness from the immediate family. Redemption is a religious word that works fine within the context of faith, but here on Earth, regardless of one's spiritual convictions, redemption could only come in the form of forgiveness from the victim. Wouldn't you agree?
Forgiveness is something the victim of a crime does for himself or herself. It should have no bearing on what happens to the criminal.
You might want to believe that there is a trace of goodness in everyone but that doesn't mean they should be released into society. Lawrence Bittaker is a serial killer, he and Roy Norris kidnapped young girls off the Strand in the Beach Cities of California and tortured them to death. Bittaker could not stand the use of profanity when women or children were present. He would quickly tell someone that language was unacceptable, he'd fight them if necessary. He had some trace of goodness, and STILL enjoyed twisting the nipples off girls using a coathanger and pliers.
Perhaps you feel it shouldn't, but it does. Let's say person A vandalizes person B's house. The next day person A knocks on the door and admits to person B that he was the culprit, says he was drunk, and apologizes for the act. Let's say person B decides not to press charges. In a legal sense that person has forgiven the perpetrator, and there is no punishment.
Now, this scenario may seem naive, because that is in no way on par with murder. With murder, there is the murder victim, whose forgiveness cannot be asked, and there is the immediate family, who have been victimized as well. This makes things more complicated.
In my first post in this thread, I did give my opinion on the forgiveness of the family of the victim as a personal opinion, not as a premise for or against capital punishment. Please take it as such. My personal feeling on the matter is that if a family were to choose to forgive the murderer, then that should not removed all punishment, simply that of death. It is a personal opinion, and that is all. I still advocate the presence of a capital punishment system regardless.