Killing Blow

Okay, just gonna steam right past the "Sorrys" and the "I'll do betters" and the "Here's a cake for all your troubles" to get straight to the discussion. If anyone is really that offended, write your local congressman.

Recently, in the great state o' Texas, a man (heretofore referred to as Jim) was hosting a barbecue. He had invited a bunch of his neighbors, some that he knew better than others. Sometime into the party, Jim hears someone screaming inside his house- his four year old girl (heretofore Jane). Why is Jane screaming? A neighbor (heretofore Adam) is sexually molesting her.

Jim then went and started to punch Adam in the face. He punched a lot. A helluva lot. And Adam died. Jim will probably not receive jail time for this.

And you know what? I'm okay with that.

Was it potentially excessive, beating Adam to death? Perhaps. I'm no father, but I can't imagine myself stop punching some dirtbag like Adam for molesting my daughter into his face was flat.

I don't know if I mentioned this on my blog before, but there are two crimes that I think are worse than any others, rape and torture. Murder? Oh, its bad. But much like the death penalty, murder is at least an escape from your assaulter.

Rape you can't get away from. Torture you can't get away from. And you have to live the rest of your life thinking about what happened to you, likely through no fault of your own.

This brings up a good opportunity to talk about the death penalty, and my feelings about it. A year ago, I would've said that all human life is sacred and that you shouldn't have the right to take it away. Now I am not so sure.

If this Adam was arrested, he definitely would not have received the death penalty. For some terrible and incomprehensible reason, the sexual assault on a minor doesn't usually guarantee life in jail or a possible death sentence.

Do all humans deserve to live? That's the basic question of the death penalty, and I say that all humans don't deserve to live. Someone who tries to take away the fundamental rights of someone else, someone that has no regards for life or someone else's wishes, they don't deserve to live.

Now it's time for some juicy qualifiers. No, not every thief deserves to die. The death penalty, while not strictly a deterrent for crime, should be used to curb the population of those members of it that can not function within it.

Serial killers? Honestly, I'd feel safer knowing that they were dead. Charles Albright, the serial killer who carved the eyes out of his victims, is still alive. He's in a jail cell somewhere, rotting, and drawing eyeballs all over his cell.

Rapists? Life sentence at the least, in my opinion. Rape is such a base, low, evil crime, and it outweighs murder in my eyes in terms of brutality needed to execute. Any schmuck can pull a trigger in the heat of the moment. To keep at what they are doing, rapists are a special kind of terrible person.

A year ago, I debated this, on the side of preserving life. Now, I'm seeing things differently. No, not every human has the potential to be something greater. No, not everyone deserves to be loved. No, not even every deserves the right to life.

Thanks for reading and considering,
-J. Valett