Missy, it has been mentioned by several forum members in THIS thread, I counted about 7 times, that we as a society have already shown more than enough mercy to Atkins by giving her life in prison instead of the death penalty which she would have deserved according to those posters.
I wasn't originally going to respond to this thread but the continued mentioning that she deserved the death penalty, didn't get it and therefore has been shown "enough mercy" started really bothering me. Scripture and bible excerpts have also been discussed in this thread in response to mercy. Therefore, I do think that my response DOES apply to the discussion you were having. I am sorry you don't feel that way and I apologize if that offended you.
However, several other threads started out with a completely different theme/discussion and developed into something else because people posted something that bothered some people, i.e. Grey's Anatomy thread.
And yes, I am talking about putting imates to death, but particularly in this case about Susan Atkins, as it was mentioned by several posters that the death penalty should have been imposed. I am sorry I wasn't clear on that but I hope this clarifies it.
Jess, I think people on both sides of the spectrum use the Bible for justifying their opinion. I would say that there is a possibility of misinterpretation on both sides, Christian or non-Christian.
Whereas I can appreciate where you are coming from, I disagree with your statement "The more lenient we are the more crime we will see IMHO." I don't think that the prospect of being put to death or spending their life in prison will deter any burglar, murderer or other thug. When we look at who commits crimes, they are hardly the rational type of person who ponders the remnification of their actions in advance. Not to mention the sociopaths who shouldn't be roaming the streets to begin with, but most of them will have too high an opinion of themselves to even consider the possibility that they will be caught.
People overtaken by rage, panic, drug, drunkenness should be brought to justice, of course, but they are hardly paragons of pure reason, and IMO it's unreasonable to assume that they consider the possibility of a death sentence (or any other punishment) when committing their crimes.
That being said, I absolutely believe that people need to be held accountable and live with the consequences of their actions. And I am pretty frustrated with the justice system, turning the perpetrater into the victim and putting the victim on trial. I agree with all of you on that.
What I DO have a problem with is capital punishment. I am not so much concerned with the Ted Bundys and John Wayne Gaceys of this world, or the murderers of TeTe's friends, etc., I am just as outraged as every one else. What I am concerned with is what it does to us as a society, mostly to our children.
I strongly believe that violence results in (or increases) violence. By responding to violence with government sanctioned violence I think it sends the wrong message to our children. To me, there is something fundamentally wrong with the assertion of morality and justice if we take a life (as much of a low life and immoral person this may be, and as much as their actions may outrage us) yes, even a convicted murderers life.
Moreover, I just don't think we can assume that we know absolute truths and I think none of us is so grandiose as to be able to decide the death of another person, not even a jury of 12.
Just to make this clear, I am not defending anyone who commits a crime, by no means was I defending Susan Atkins, she did what she did, she went to prison, she is now dying a slow death and whereas I condemn her actions from 40 years ago, I also have compassion for her current situation. I just felt that some of the comments came across as a little selfrighteous and inhumane (it's probably not the right word but I cannot think of a better one right now).
