I have reason to believe that that the following text is riddled with grammatical errors. As such, I must tell you I will do everything in my power to ignore them and so should you :). Have a nice day.
On my way to work this morning, there was an interesting discussion about whether or not the death penalty should be re-instated.
Now My view has always been that, it is an excellent deterrent as well as the fact that it is an effective way of dealing with Societies most extreme Deviants,. It makes no sense to try to ‘Rehab’ a stone cold killer, and I really don’t think My hard earned money should feed such an individual.
In any case the Question is asked, will Re-instating the Death penalty help with the Crime rate. My answer is no
The last time I looked at the statistics, the majority of Murders in Jamaica come from domestic Disputes, cases where people are just too hot headed. These murders don’t normally fall under Capital Punishment any way (correct me if I am Wrong).
Even if we were to kill those guilty of participating in Gang warfare or Executions, we would still need to catch them, My Question is If we cant catch them now
What makes us think that re-instating the death penalty will make things any different?
Having said this I have been re-thinking my views on the entire concept of the death penalty. I am now not sure If I can support it. The concept of Killing someone has such finality to it, that if we really stop to think about it, it is a bit scary.
U might argue that these killers don’t stop to think about what they do, so why should we? But if we don’t how are we any different from a big man hiring an assassin to kill someone we don’t like? Remember we cannot let our emotions dictate too much of our decisions, the law has to be as Objective as possible.
I believe that once you have taken a life you have forfeited your right to yours, yet, what ever happened to second chances? Are we to pay for the rest of our lives for one mistake made, then again, the victims do, so………… tuff.
This entire line of reasoning came up as a result of the question of whether or not Jah Cure should be released. Now My views on rapist are such that this is not a forgivable crime, and I honestly think the should be castrated, and I am not joking. Clearly u have shown an inability to have self control, As a result, for the sake of society, the state has a responsibility to remove the threat in a manner that allows you to continue to contribute in a safe manner. Of course the psychological repercussions of this can be severe, but then such is life.
In any case, Before I knew Jah Cure was a rapist, I was enjoying his music and rooting for his release from prison, but now I don’t know. I still like his music and part of me would want to see him out, but this man has shown that at least one point in his life he was not fit to walk the streets in a civilized world. Now he would have us believe that he is a ‘better man’, but the Question I ask Myself is, can we afford to risk it, is he really a better man, do we give him a second chance?
To answer my own Question, I ask Myself, Does the Victim have a second chance? The chance to stay home that night? Having asked this I must ask what does this mean. Is it that all criminals should forever ostracized, if so, how do we expect them to contribute to society?
Footnote: Jesus believes in second chances.
7 comments:
Aren't you tired of having to write the same disclaimer?
To answer your questions about Jah Cure, it bothers me that so many people want him out just because he can carry a tune. I'm sure there are other 'better' sex offenders in prison, but aint nobody making a case for them. He needs to stay there and serve his sentence... and be castrated, if necessary.
I'm not longer sure where I am with respect to the death penalty. What you said is exactly what happened to me some time back- I thought about it, and wondered 'what right do I have to kill a man because he killed another? Am I any better than him then?" And the Biblical side of things makes an even greater argument against the penalty- Jesus came for the sinners. I was strongly for the penalty at one point, but, Bible aside, I still don't think it will make much of a difference. Criminals iin this place have enormous egos... when they're out doing their thing, the majority won't be lamenting the consequences.
(Apologies for the long post)
I had the same discussion with myself recently, including the whole Jah Cure thing. I wasn't a huge fan to begin tho I thought his songs were decent. After I heard the rape story I lost respect and have subsequently stopped listening as much as I can. It bothers me that he has been able to manipulate the system to continue making music from behind bars.
The death penalty issue has always been a tough one for me because i don't have the same religous basis on which to take a stand. But I do believe that taking a life is wrong.
How to punish someone who does this is a challenging problem because it raises the questions of what would you want done to you if you found yourself in that situation? Or what if it were your family member who killed, or had been killed? How would you feel?
I do feel that those incarcerated should be gainfully contributing back to "the society" (not themselves) in order to compensate for taxpayer dollars being spent on their care.
u also have to think about the wrongfully accused.- deffinietly dont want to execute them.
i've heard it said that rapists arent limited to their genitals as a tool. castration wouldnt be able to stop a real rapist from raping or sexual abuse. i think i've heard that somewhere.
He wouldn't be able to rape with his penis but yes he'd still have the thoughts.
I went through all of this at about the same age as seeker. Drew the same conclusions. I then went to work in a job hat exposed me to the prisons and I recommended that a few be sent there as well... Not without guilt (their's and my own feeling afterwards).
The law says they ought to b put to work at hard labour. That part does not happen. Fixing roads, doing laundry for hospitals, drainage clean up, etc.... The proposals are all there, but gov't claims lack of funds to provide enough personnel to supervise them on the road. o they leave them in prson sucking money instead of earning for the nation.
You're right David, i forgot to mention that. They do say that rapists sometimes have a compulsion to rape whether using a body part or not.
Yeah it is generally accepted that the majority of rapes are not about sex, but about power. Lack of a penis won't remove the urge for power, it will just force them to get "creative".
I know that rape is about power and repeat offenders will prob find some creative means. But when I say castrate I also mean removeing balls, Please enlighten me if i am wrong, but I am sure I heard somewhere they play some significant role in the production of that Hormone. And I am sure I heard somewhere that that hormaone affects behaviour. I know that it wont cure all, and it is a risk that you might create some psychos out there. But I think the the threat of losing what everyman holds dear will be a major deterant
and as for those who do it, they'll iether stop or get creative, the way I see it, its still better than the current Situation.
Having said this, I must say that this punishment may backfire, there are no shortage of false accusations of rape. Many a time while on campus, I have thought twice who I invite to my room when, cause you never can tell when I u might buck up on a psycho :S. But alas I still say cut it off, it just means guys have to be more vigilant about what they do.
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