[Jack_]

Originally Posted by Zee

But the ENTIRE concept of justice is guided by human emotions. Deciding to just lock someone away in a cell to prolong their suffering is JUST as irrational as ending their life because it's a decision made by other people because of something one or more persons has done to another person or persons. People are the be all and end all of justice. The difference between capital punishment and long term jail sentences is that you can slightly undo a jail sentence... but that person has still lost a chunk of their life to not being free.

But the concept of killing someone in itself is just, well...morally wrong. I understand where you're coming from and I guess it's a valid point I hadn't thought about, and whilst I agree that most, if not all things in life are socially constructed concepts, I still find it difficult to comprehend how the decision to take someone else's life can be anything other than wrong, because no one should have that right. So on that basis, the death penalty is totally hypocritical and of course wrong.

[Z]

Originally Posted by Jack_

But the concept of killing someone in itself is just, well...morally wrong. I understand where you're coming from and I guess it's a valid point I hadn't thought about, and whilst I agree that most, if not all things in life are socially constructed concepts, I still find it difficult to comprehend how the decision to take someone else's life can be anything other than wrong, because no one should have that right. So on that basis, the death penalty is totally hypocritical and of course wrong.

I mean I don't disagree with your post, I just thought it might be interesting to put that particular spin on things. I'm not wholly sure where I stand on the issue. I'm not sure it's possible for me to have a view that applies to every individual case, I think my views depend entirely on each situation, the certainty behind the conviction, the nature of the crime etc... I'm pretty sure my views on one old man murdering another in cold blood because he'd been his life long enemy for decades and the victim had done plenty to ruin the offender's life... would be in stark contrast to a man who raped and murdered a child for his own pleasure. The judgment of crime is ruled by emotion and it takes a very emotionally detached person to be able to judge such a thing, and it's not something I could ever do.