we have a greater responsibilty to protect the INNOCENT people.

People like you seem more interested in protecting the criminals than the innocent people.

There is no effective rehabilitation process, so how can you be more interested in protecting the criminal than protecting the general public?

the re-offending statistics are startling.

We are all born with all the rights in the world. if you commit a crime, you voluntarily GIVE AWAY those rights.

People need to be held accountable for their decisions. You are GIVEN rights, that doesn't mean they can't be TAKEN away if necessary.

If you TAKE another person's life, you have NO right to life.

How many have been let out of jail and taken more lives because judges wanted to be self-righteous, and wanted to seem "merciful"?

imo, those judges should be held accountable for everything done by the criminals they let out of jail.

yep, I agree 100% here. Criminals seem to have more rights than anyone else these days. Where is the second chance for the children that paedophiles abuse? And where is the second chance for the people who have been murdered???

You aren't listening to me here. I'm talking about protecting people from themselves. Nothing about the criminals.

And rehabilitation can work.... you can't be investing yourself in such sweeping statements like that.

Rehabilitation works for some people, but not for the majority. Its still worth doing for the minority of people that are helped because its still putting a positive effect on someones life. No 2 criminals are the same.

yes but like I said would you risk putting a murderer or paedophile back on the street in the hope that the rehabilitation has worked?

Paedophiles and in some cases murderers can't be rehabilitated. Rehabilitation tends to work for lesser crimes (theft, criminal damage etc). Its all in your psychological make up

well, I'm all for trying it out on those lesser crimes

I think thats the best option. A lot of the time if criminals are just left after commiting small crimes, their offences will get gradually bigger and bigger until they're beyond help. They need to get there early

how many innocent victims are we willing to sacrifice for the chance that rehabilitation works for one criminal?

yes, trying to work with these people is a good thing imo.

would you send yur kid to be an alter boy with a "rehabilitated" priest?

what's more important? the priest's rehabilitation? or yur child's safety??

well you can't lock a thief up forever so isn't trying to rehabilitate him better than not?

rehabilitation is a farce. it's a myth.

rehabilitated paedophile priest I think you mean. Not all priests are paedophiles you know.

for things like stealing? I doubt it

you didn't answer the question

we arn't talking about stealing, we're talking about crimes punishable by death.

At this stage I doubt very much that they'd be letting paedo priests back up on the alter.

Well, If you bothered reading any of my previous posts you wouldn't really be asking me that question. I think that paedophiles should never see the light of day again, whether that means locking up for life or death, I couldn't care less. And of course I would never put my child any where near a paedophile. Besides the fact that I'm not religious so my son will never be an alter boy.

I was talking to Tom about rehabilitation for thieves actually.

yea i thought so. that's why i was confused. cause it seemed like you were disagreeing with me, but obviously you don't.

well you'd think that after the first cases of pedophilia in the church surfaced decades ago, but actually, if you read th stories, it seems the church is actually protecting pedophiles, and they just send the pedo's to new churches. In fact alot of the priests that abused children in the UK and US are now serving in africa and south america, where they're less likely to get caught. doesn't that make you feel better about the catholic church?

You think that just because I'm Irish I would have anything good to say about the Catholic Church? You're not telling me anything I don't know already and I never attend mass anyway. Don't really understand why you've gone on this kinda tangent though.

I think when I started talking to Tom about rehabilitation for criminals of lesser crimes thieves etc is where the confusion came about!

umm, no, i didn't assume you were catholic, and I myself am catholic, so if you think i'm some how biased against the church, i'm not. IN fact yu could call me an "insider". I was raised catholic, went to CCD every wednesday up til my confirmation.

(and just for the record i wasn't sexually abused)

What would the lord say about you not wanting to preserve life?