Posted by
D W W Robertson on Monday, April 14, 2008 5:19:19 PM
Bumper sticker: “Why do we kill people who kill people in order to show that killing people is wrong?”
Not only is the expression on this bumper sticker terribly irresponsible, and anti-intellectual, but the sentiment is devoid of moral courage.
First off, any honest person who cares about the truth would be careful not to misrepresent the reality of the situation. Apparently, the person displaying such a sticker finds a public that favors execution as morally equivalent to the guilty murderer in the chair.
A responsible person might ask, “Why do we execute brutal murderers who victimize innocent people in order to teach that brutally murdering is wrong?” At least this way, we can talk sensibly about the reality of the issue.
Secondly, the reasoning is faulty in both the responsible and irresponsible statements of the question. The question implies that it is wrong to punish a criminal in the same way that the crime was committed. The principle could be stated: if a criminal commits x, then x cannot be punishment.
There is a clear counter-example for which the principle is false. We arrest and imprison people who are guilty of snatching and locking up victims. The bumper sticker could read: “Why do we kidnap people who kidnap people to show that kidnapping is wrong?”
No one to my knowledge is opposed to imprisoning kidnappers. So now that it is clear the whole premise for the bumper sticker is false, I’ll explain why it is devoid of moral courage. The left is so weak when it comes to standing up to evil. The reason why it is important to not only keep the death penalty on the books but to exercise the use of the death penalty for the worst criminals is because it saves innocent lives by deterrence. The typical potential murderer will be careful not commit murder, if they are afraid that they will be put to death. We in turn must be careful to make sure that the death penalty is applied justly and in humane ways. In so doing, innocent lives will be saved.
Afterthought: It occurred to me that the left will not spank their children for fear that their children will learn that hitting is okay. Where does this thinking come from? I know a whole generation of adults raised with spankings as punishment. They were even spanked as punishment for hitting. And they know that it is not okay to use your fist instead of your words. And they will even turn the other cheek (pun intended) in Christ like manner. Spanked children, in my experience, are less likely to hit or have inappropriate physical boundaries, than their non-spanked peers. Just goes to show, you can punish in the same way the offense was committed. It works.