the jimmymac attack!

In the USA there have been over one thousand people executed by the government since 1977. If the government kills people is it murder? I think it is murder and the state should operate on a higher level and to a higher standard than this. It is a peculiar policy for a country that is supposedly run by Christian people. A key tenant of Christianity is, 'thou shall not kill'. I am opposed to the death penalty and Canada does not have the death penalty. It seems to me that the death penalty implicitly suggests that it is ok to kill 'sometimes'. By using this logic then how does someone decide when it is ok to kill? I'm sure that in the mind of most murderers they have some twisted reason it is ok to kill their victim. Maybe they think, 'this guy is really bad or stupid' or whatever. Supposedly the state is doing the same thing but they think it is justified. Similarly murder is justified in the mind of many murderers. I came across an interesting poem about this subject. I asked the writer what inspired him and here is the answer and the poem.

"On June 10, 2001 Timothy McVeigh was put to death in Indiana. He was responsible for the bomb in Oklahoma City which killed 168 people. I guess many people thought he deserved the death penalty. However on that day I thought the American people were just perpetuating the cycle of violence. It's a society where there is murder, death, revenge... murder, death, revenge... and it goes on and on and on without end. I thought what if something broke the cycle?
All changes in the world by mankind begin with some thought or idea. It can take many years for an idea to take hold and become reality. So I wrote this poem with that in mind. I wrote it from the perspective of someone living in the future who is looking back on changes in the world. So imagine if someone living in 2105 or 2205 is looking back and wrote this poem. Imagine if the world was different than it is today."

The Killing Stopped

The nation believed in punishment,
Those who committed murder were executed.
And this went on for years and years,
And the murders went on and on.

Then some began to say,
"This is a contradiction.
We say, 'do not kill',
but we are killing"

So someone presented a new approach,
"Sentence them to life in prison.
They will have to reflect on their deeds,
for years and years. This is a just punishment,
what could be more tortuous?"

Executions were ended.
Years went by, but slowly, the murders decreased.
Murder was no longer acceptable, or condoned by anyone,
and one day, the killing stopped.

this poem and other writings are at www.geocities.com/jllade