The link below is to an interesting vid on the front page of NBC News.com from a couple of weeks ago. Is there a fight ramping up over the death penalty again?
http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/debunker/crime-deterrent-debunking-death-penalty-myths-n40571
Also making its way around the interwebs, is a letter by convicted killer Ray L Jasper who is scheduled to take in his last breath on March 19 of this year.
I’ll probably ruffle the feathers of a few of my left-leaning friends with this post and surprise those who know me from my UU church with my opinion on the death penalty.
I am from Texas however and as the comedian Ron White says, “as other states are trying to abolish it [the death penalty] my state is putting in an express lane.”
After I viewed the NBC News video from that link above though I couldn’t help but come up with my own monologue about the death penalty by addressing the three commonly held misconceptions the video addresses.
1. cruel and unusual punishment… using a cocktail of drugs to off someone who has demonstrated they are unable to conduct themselves in a reasonable manner within a free society is okay by me. This is one aspect of the Constitution I don’t mind turning a blind eye. If a guy struggles for 26 minutes gasping for air and is in obvious pain, all I want to know is am I being charged more of my tax dollars for that added service.
2. Deterring crime… it has been known for decades that the death penalty does not deter crime. Honestly… I don’t CARE if it deters future crimes or not. What I care about is whether it deters the sorry ass who committed the death-penalty-worthy crime from doing anything ever again… including breathing.
3. Not congruent with the rest of the Western world. Please see my answer above.
I don’t care.
I wouldn’t care if the U.S. was the LAST country to employ capital punishment.
As for that scum bag, piece of shit Ray L Jasper who wrote that letter as his impending doom comes…
my personal theology and view of the Nature of God doesn’t allow for a place of eternal damnation. My God would not condemn Ray Jasper that way. My personal theology tells me my God is loving, forgiving and generous with Grace and that I should try to emulate that character. I have come to grips with and am ok with the notion that with regards to the death penalty I will miss the mark when it comes to emulating God’s character. But I say let’s put Ray Jasper onto the fast track for forgiveness and make the air we breathe just a little less polluted by his taking up space here.
Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you don’t want to die in the death chamber of the Texas Prison System perhaps you should keep your nose clean.
Should I live to be a ripe old age and someone asks me, “so what’s your secret? How did you live such a long time?” My answer will be, “The love of a wonderful person by my side, a really good beer a couple times a week and clean livin’, son. Clean livin’.”
a UU Deist in Texas 