Capital punishment (was Book offer)

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>RALPH

>Thanks, Michael. Unfortunately, Americans are so brainwashed with the very

>idea of capital punishment that most of them accept it as perfectly normal.

>Most churches accept it, many even push it. In the U.K. the most avid

>proponents of it were Church of England clergy. Thank goodness, the

>Catholic Church now opposes it. That won't change the minds of Catholics

>like Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and William F. Buckley, though.

>

>I was once talking with my mailman about it. He is a very decent guy, but

>he bristled when I suggested that capital punishment should be abolished.

>He was sold on the idea that it is a deterrent, probably because he had

>never heard otherwise. I asked him to consider which states have the

>highest number of murders per capita. I suggested Texas, Georgia and

>Florida. He agreed. I then asked which states have the greatest number of

>executions. Texas, Georgia and Florida! And which states have the highest

>percentage of Xian fundamentalists? Texas, Georgia and Florida, probably.

>He walked away thinking.

>

>BRIDEAN

>I am not necessarily against capital punishment.  I don't think it is a

deterant

>but it is a way of preventing the person from harming society ever again.

I would

>rather see that then to put him in prison for a long time, let him back out

so

>he can kill someone again, put him in prison again, let him out again ...

>

>I'll have more to say about capital punishment and the Bible later.

>


TILL
So that Xians on the list won't think that skeptics and atheists band
together on issues, I will point out that I am a believer in capital
punishment.  To my way of thinking, whether capital punishment deters crime
is besides the point.  I consider it an appropriate punishment for certain
crimes.  For example, I would consider it inappropriate not to demand of
Timothy McVeigh that he pay for his crime with his own life.  Executing him
may not deter other radicals from planting bombs, but it will communicate to
them the value that society put on the lives that were taken in the Oklahoma
City bombing.

LARSON
My father (even my wife) are staunch supporters of capital punishment.  I am
however very much opposed to this practice.  Perhaps I think more like God
than I care to admit.  In my opinion, when someone is convicted of taking
another human life, I think that person should spend the rest of his/her
days thinking, anguishing, and regretting their heinous crime against their
victim(s).  While no perfect penal system exists, I would certainly
recommend prison reform in the living conditions of convicted murders.
Convicted murderers should only be provided with:

1.  One meal per day
2.  6' x 8' cage (cell)
3.  1 pillow & 1 blanket
4.  The clothes on their backs
5.  a toilet
6.  No parole

Never being allowed to leave their cell, along with being denied daylight
and human contact, these prisoners should be allowed to choose the lengths
of their own lives.  Either choose a life leading to natural death, or
utilize their blankets as a means of setting themselves free, as the bars
that house their doorway to freedom will indeed set them free.  Death is
much too easy and offers no real punishment as it is only a quick solution
in ridding ourselves of society's vermin.  These prison living conditions I
suggested are used throughout the world.  Only in the US could we develop
prisons that resemble "health clubs."  How unfortunate!


Sincerely,

Doug Larson

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