Quote: "No more feelings. No more family, no more anything."
Do you suppose that that person cares if someone else dies, then? Did he care about their feelings?
Quote: "Death is end of the road - with death there is no more - provided there is no heaven etc."
If an ape managed to get hold of a gun, shot everyone around you (your children, your parents, your siblings, your friends, your girlfriend, etc) and now has it pointed at you, still loaded, and the ape "knew what it was doing" (let's assume it was trained to do this, kay?) and you
just happened to have a loaded gun on you, would you shoot it? Perhaps there's a situation here where the ape would still kill you if it can move at all.
For this argument's sake, let's suppose that you managed to cage the ape, gave it a fair trial with a jury of its fellow primates, and they all found said ape guilty. Now the ape is somewhere secure. Oh no! That secure place closed down due to financial issues. Or, perhaps something else happened. The ape is being transfer. During transfer said ape manages to get hold of a gun or other weapon, or was simply able to run off. (Very unlikely, but stick with me on this.) There's a
chance the ape could get away. Now it tracks you down, because you
ratted it out (and it's somehow able to comprehend this). It's going to try to kill you. What do you suppose the chances are now, not knowing that it escaped, that you would be able to cage it again? Significantly less. Suppose it wasn't given life in the cage. It's an ape. It's not going to reform a decision it planned out knowing what would happen. Now its time is up. It's going to go after you. Why? Because you put it in the cage. Maybe it's not even going to go after you, it may go after someone else. Randomly. Perhaps, a mother taking her child to see the new Batman movie. Oh hey, look at that. They're dead now. Because said ape's life is somehow valuable, and sacred. Because, yes, there's a small chance (probably much smaller than the ape getting out eventually) the ape could reform and realize that it's decision to kill and wound a bunch of people was probably not the smartest thing in the world. So, that ape's life should be spared because once it's grey and old it might be able to do something useful! Granted, that ape is likely no genius so it won't be using its mind. And, it's grey and old so it won't be able to do much physical work. Plus, its resumè as a mass-murderer could possibly make the employer it's applying to feel sympathetic to its situation.
I'm sorry, but I'm not seeing a very strong argument on your end. These are things I've considered before. I'm have to ask that you disprove my rationale more effectively.
Quote: "provided there is no heaven etc."
Assuming there is one, and its opposite, do you really suppose
he would really be going there? Don't you suppose that if there is one, that whoever is responsible for granting access will choose what's best? And if so, who are we to dictate that direction (by saying "Oh no, you deserve to live, this is okay. Just a slap on the wrist for ya;" choosing death would mean said judgment would fall to whoever is responsible for that sort of thing then).
Assuming there isn't one, then it is better that such a destructive, and evil entity not exist in our midst at all. He could hurt other prisoners, who may only be in prison for less serious (but still serious enough to be in with him) offenses.
Quote: "Unless the person wants to die, then isnt prison the more humane one?"
Quote: "I would rather live life in prison than die. Now, I am against lifetime prison, but still."
If you commit a crime like that, what you want doesn't matter. You've given up that choice, knowing that others would decide your fate, whatever that may be.
Quote: "Now, I am against lifetime prison, but still."
Your arguments make more sense to me now. Thank you for clarifying that.
----
Also, note that I'm not arguing that if someone murders that they should get the death penalty. This is an extreme case. It's fairly obvious what the guy did. There are tons of witnesses, footage, evidence, etc. He even tried to (indirectly) kill those who try to protect us (ignoring the corrupt). (I'm referring to the police, of course. They investigated. Place was booby trapped. They suspect it was intended for them.)
We should probably stop discussion of this though. It seems to be a bit political. Feel free to email me your response if you like. If you use gtalk at all, I'm also available via IM (see email address).
Cheers,
Aaron
