I'm on a social commentary kick. Especially lately since the economic bummer of 2008 has got me all wired up. I was sitting on my front porch listening to Simply Red cause I'm a big sap. Watching the sprinklers. I was in reflect mode concentrating on the heavy issues on my heart. Like what can I make for dinner that's not going to take to much effort. Or, I think my dog's pills are giving him gas. Which of course led me to think about the death penalty. No it didn't.. . . .

I was thinking about all that stuff before but I wanted to ease into it. Now I'm just going to splash you with it.

I used to think that the death sentence was justified. Like how can a woman who drowned her three children in a car continue in society. She is now useless. Or how bout' this guy? The BTK killer. How many people did he kill. Way to many. Is there any hope for that guy. There is too many disgusting crimes committed by people. You can't put those people back in society. Then there is the guy you found out through DNA testing that he didn't kill his alleged victim. Oops we killed him already. Guess what it happened more than once.
Death is certainly a mechanism that would cause a preventive fear in any respecting citizen. But those who commit the crimes don't care. We can't prove how many died innocent. How many would or would not kill if there was or wasn't a death penalty. I'm sure if you go to a much harsher country where they kill you if publish a political cartoon of a respected politician.
Is it justified that we kill a growing number of innocents in the name of killing thousands of the wicked. Just who is it that are pronouncing these judgments? Judges. Okay. What are judges anyways. Aren't most if not all seasoned lawyers. Now despite the urban legends going around not all of them are blood sucking vampires that sleep upside down in classy uptown penthouses. Where lawyers in fact make money off of problems. Maybe I'm trying to say that you'll never see a coffin factory investing in pharmaceutical cures or giving grants to universities trying to make the safest car in the world. One fatal flaw that a judge has is that he is in fact a person! SHOCKED? I was too. That's why I always wore a garlic necklace to court. Where in his higher education did he learn the consequences on state endorsed death. I question if they're has ever been a study. I can think of one instance. A long time ago there was a kingdom called France. Whose royalty was slaughtered. Those who in fact slaughtered those kings turned to the people who they said they represented. Thousands were killed by state execution. Execution became another weapon in the state's arsenal. Well what about the 9/11 attackers? Okay maybe we can make a case for those who commit war crimes. Wouldn't that be another form of creating a state of fear. So that anyone who opposes the country would be killed. That seems far fetched now. You do realize that there are secret trials held with no jury outside the country. Not just at Guantamano Bay.

As someone who believe in Jesus and tries to follow the example and tenants he laid out in the gospels. I found myself conflicted. The more I follow Jesus the more I feel myself against the death penalty. Then I was thinking about the face that's painted on me when I say I'm a Christian. That I'm pro-life, pro-war, pro-guns, against saving the environment, pro-clubbing baby seals. Despite that I found the paradox that we were stuck in. How could the secular world see the horrors in death but I, a follower in Jesus couldn't. I was a victim of social conditioning what can I say. I Baaahed with the rest of the sheep. But as I learned more I found myself believing in life. Loving the present reality with a new zeal. A zeal not a lust but just a full appreciation of it. Its so rare and unique. Knowing how many there are dead versus alive. How could I think that taking life from someone was okay. Abortion say what you will, but if I was against someone killing a semi-conscious person in someone's womb. Why was I for the extermination of a fully conscious adult who may or not be guilty? Paradox. Actually in all respects solitary confinement for life seems worse than murder. I still enjoy clubbing the occasional seal though. I'm so bad.

Human life is more precious than any other on the planet. No whale, seal, rainforest, or cause amounts to a pile of beans when its stacked against a human life.
Now the discussion of war and pacifism is for another blog that might not ever happen. I dunno though I'm feeling pretty bloggy lately.