The Koran Vs The Old Testament

[waitingman]

Just to be serious for a moment ~ does this article make anyone else slightly angry... exasperated... or at the very least bemused?

The 'Eye For An Eye' religious/civil/criminal vs victim/human rights debate starts here.

Or not...

Comments

[thebellman.livejournal.com]

Initially irritated, but on reflection, sort of agree with the lawyers (my reaction is tempered by the perception that it's a blatant bit of delay and tactics on the part of the lawyers, rather than any reason to believe they believe what they say). There is an old dictum that we should be judged by the way we treat the least deserving of our kindness, and this may be the case. I'm not opposed to capital punishment, but neither do I support and encourage it: it's hard to undo if the court has made a mistake; it demonstrably does not act as a deterrent to anyone else guilty of the same crimes; it does not teach the criminal anything. On the other hand, there are people who should be entirely removed from the human race. Which is most cruel? permanent isolated incarceration or termination? Tough call.

On the third hand, Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet.

[wzdd.livejournal.com]

Unlike thebellman I'm opposed to capital punishment on moral grounds. But I think the actual sticking point here is practicality, not morals -- and on practical grounds, it's very tricky to execute someone for exactly the sorts of reasons given by the lawyers. Which is why it costs so much to kill someone off in places where lawyers are taken seriously (such as the US).