The Triumph of Death by Pieter BruegelI can't decide about the death penalty. I've thought about this for so many years, and I've switched from one side to the other so many times (ditto for abortion, the existence of God, wanting to have children, and peanut butter (how did I ever not love peanut butter?)) and I wonder if I'll ever actually make up my mind.
On the one hand, I believe in compassion. I whole heartedly believe in compassion. I think it is the single most important driving force in a life well lived. The Dalai Lama says compassion does not come from feeling sympathetic to your friends when they are in distress. That is attachment. Sure, it can be compassion too, but he was talking about compassion on a larger scale and so am I. I'm talking about compassion for strangers. Not just people you walk past on the street, not just the homeless man begging for change on the L Train. Compassion for people you will never see face to face. Compassion for the world in general, for all humanity, for all life.
I struggle with this, of course. I hate people! I hate the crowded subways; I hate the men that leer at me when I walk down the street; I hate the people who won't get the F out of my way when I'm walking on the sidewalk! I eat meat. I use too much paper. But every day I start with the greatest intentions of living life as a compassionate being. It's easier to be compassionate to people you know because there is some direct benefit in doing it: they may, in return, deal compassionately with you. It is harder to exert the effort with someone you do not think will have substantial effect on your life. This is something I will have to work on in this life and the next.
When I think about compassionate living, I think the death penalty is wrong. It does not deter crime any more than prison deters it. It may help keep the honest people honest, but anyone bent on doing evil, will do it regardless of consequence. I do not think it is within the jurisdiction of any human to take the life of another. I do not think it suitable retribution for any crime; killing the murderer doesn't bring back the victim. And on a metaphysical level, I think it is bad karma for a society to wantonly kill others.
But I also believe in justice. Not necessarily an eye for an eye. I feel that philosophy is immature. But I believe that everyone must own up to their actions, even if they're accidents (Rebecca Gayheart runs over a kid and serves no time; Martha Stewart sells her stock on an inside tip and goes to jail for six months...yeah, that seems fair). Does motive really count for anything or is it only the end result that matters? Hypothetically, if a man rapes and kills a girl, such an action not only affects that girl's life, but also the lives of those who knew the girl. The girl will never grow up, fall in love, have children, have a career, drive a car—anything. And her parents will never really overcome the loss of their daughter. It seems fitting that he should die for such a reprehensible offense. Not only as punishment, but as prevention. What if he is paroled or escapes and kills again? How many chances does someone get? Doesn't "life in prison" where you don't have to worry about food or shelter (hey, I'm not saying it's Club Med) seem like a rather picayune trade off for ending a girl's life?
A friend once said he believed in capital punishment because if a person is in a community pool and starts bullying the other swimmers, that guy loses his pool privileges. This makes sense to me. But do we just put him in a pool with other bad kids or do we never let him in another pool again?
I wish we all got exactly what we deserved. I often wonder, if I did get what I deserved, would my life be better or worse than it is today? I feel like it would actually be about what it is. I think I'm a good person most of the time, but I also feel like I am a long way from being the kind of person I would like to be.
I believe is compassion and justice equally and I'm not sure how to reconcile the two. When it comes to capital punishment, it seems like they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. How far does compassion go? Does it go on infinitely? Even when someone shows no remorse, no sense of wrong-doing, no desire to mend their ways? The Dalai Lama would say yes. Compassion should be infinite. And for that matter, Jesus says it as well: Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Mark 18:21-25) But we're cynical people; we don't want to be duped. When we forgive someone, when we give them a second chance, it is so they can prove to us they have learned a lesson. And if they don't learn it, if they only repeat their offenses, we will feel taken advantage of. We hate being taken advantage of. It seems like it's just easier to kill them, than to risk being humiliated.
At least I know how I feel about peanut butter.
9 comments:
First off - the painting has always haunted me. It fascinates me and scares me. I don't know why.
Trivial comments aside...
If those in charge (read: lawmakers) believe in a higher power, then a) "Thou Shall Not Kill" should apply to them too and b) they should believe that proper punishment IS awaiting the child-molesting granny-killing murderous murdereing fuck in the afterlife. Let God sort 'em out.
The Death Penalty isn't about justice, it's about vengence. Which is the worse punishment? Being killed? Or living another 70 years with yoru actions on your shoulders? Granted - some folk will feel remorse, some won't. What are you gonna do?
Putting him in prison IS taking away his pool privileges.
Since when is discussing art trivial? It is a very haunting picture.
You're right. Capital punishment is about vengence and that's not good for karma either. You're also right that these lawmakers who use the Bible as justification with "an eye for an eye" overlook all the parts about about forgiveness and vengence being God's job, not ours.
It's the same with homophobes who quote the Bible as saying homosexuality is a sin but can't be bothered with the "love they neighbor" bit.
Well, maybe you just helped me figure out how I really feel.
I don't know. M, you recently said something about things not being black or white, and this is definitely one of those things for me. I can't really say I'm for or against the death penalty (or any penalty), because it totally depends on the case. Do I believe that across the board, murderers should get the death penalty? No. But do I believe that a really horrible serial killer who is completely bonzo and has killed tons of people with no remorse should eat up taxpayer dollars by sitting in a cell for the rest of his life while his victims families are out in the world living with the knowledge that the scum that robbed them of their loved ones still gets a bed a 3 squares a day? No way; fry the evil s.o.b. O.k., so I guess believing in the death penalty, but only in extreme cases, is still believing in it…
I don’t know. But I do know that if some sick asshole ever killed one of my kids and the government didn’t take his life, I’d sure want to. And I think this planet is already way too crowded to not get rid of some of the real scum who’ve caused real pain...
I think I have a great deal of compassion for those I don't know. And I do have compassion for criminals, because God knows they weren't born that way. But I still think really serious crimes, crimes with malice and intent behind them, should have serious consequences, and in a lot of cases, jail time just doesn't cut it.
Maybe heaven is where they should be shown some forgiveness...
-Noon
Yes, if someone killed my kids, it would be really hard not to want him to fry like bacon instead of spending the rest of his life in jail "thinking" about his crime. And I also agree that the truly psychotic people who can't be helped or can't show remorse are kind of wasting space and money in jail (although I also feel like the real nut jobs are the ones most in need of compassion, even if they never realize you're giving it to them). And I also think, yes, things aren't black and white and decisions can be made case by case, but you make a good point: if you believe in it sometimes, don't you believe in it?
Great, I'm confused again!
I watched an interesting news program the other day about aged prisoners who are dying with cancer in jail. These are guys who have served 40 or 50 years, and are dying of natural causes- not shank related. When you see these old men, your sort of feel for them- like- why not- why not let them out and die in some sort of peace- but then I think, that guy could be a Ted Bundy- and even a older Ted Bundy could do a lot of harm- then I think- I could get hit by a car, or a nuclear bomb could explode- Or worse, they could stop making crunchy peanut butter.
I'm with Michelle - I waver on this issue. However, I always remind myself of the multitudes of people who have been wrongfully accused and wrongfully executed. Look at Ruben "Hurricane" Carter: he was eventually proven innocent and got a chance to be free, albeit late in life. It's hard to believe in capital punishment when so many people are killed for crimes they didn't commit.
But don't get me started on the unfairness of our justice system...
Hopefully with DNA evidence though, we'll have lots fewer wrongfully imprisoned people. =)
-Noon
I disagree about the death penalty being just about vengeance. It does serve two out of three of the reasons we punish very well:
1. It keeps it from happening again. -- Death penalty does this better than any other form of punishment
2. Provides deterrence. -- Presumably people fear death the most and thus it follows that this would be the best deterrent
3. Rehabilitation. -- Clearly the death penalty is the WORST way to rehabilitate a person. Part of the idea behind punishment is to convert harmful people into people useful to society.
That being said, the biggest problem I see with the death penalty is simply that it's too final. Our criminal system is FAR from perfect (but it's the best we got), and I simply don't think it's worth the possibility of killing the wrong person.
So my conclusion is that right now, it's a bad idea. Maybe as technology advances and we get fewer "false positives" it would valuable. The idea itself isn't terrible, it's the execution of it that's the issue (pardon the pun).
-Stephen
You're right: the death penalty does those first two things better than anything else, but still not very well. I've been thinking about this more and more and even if our legal system was top notch and mistakes were rare, I think in my heart, I would still feel it's wrong to take another life on any grounds. I just can't believe that's a good basis on which to build a compassionate, good-feeling society.
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