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Donald Ian Rankin

(13,598 posts) Tue Dec 9, 2014, 05:27 PM Dec 2014

Everything that needs to be said about the death penalty, in three sentences.

1) There exist criminals so evil that deliberately killing them is just and reasonable.
2) It is not possible to identify such people infallibly; if you ever execute anyone then you will sometimes get it wrong.
3) In a society with functioning prisons, executing innocent people is not a price worth paying to execute people who deserve it.

3 replies

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Highlight:

Everything that needs to be said about the death penalty, in three sentences. (Original Post) Donald Ian Rankin Dec 2014 OP

that's pretty much been it for years for me jberryhill Dec 2014 #1

Foolish notion... DreamGypsy Dec 2014 #2

If the goal was to show that killing people is invariably wrong, obviously it would be foolish. Donald Ian Rankin Dec 2014 #3

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)

1. that's pretty much been it for years for me

Reply to Donald Ian Rankin (Original post)

Tue Dec 9, 2014, 05:30 PM

Dec 2014

Any human process is prone to error.

DreamGypsy

(2,252 posts)

2. Foolish notion...

Reply to Donald Ian Rankin (Original post)

Tue Dec 9, 2014, 05:51 PM

Dec 2014

Why do we kill people who kill people to show people that killing people is wrong?

- Holly Near

---especially when we sometimes kill the wrong people.

Donald Ian Rankin

(13,598 posts)

3. If the goal was to show that killing people is invariably wrong, obviously it would be foolish.

Reply to DreamGypsy (Reply #2)

Tue Dec 9, 2014, 06:21 PM

Dec 2014

But killing people to show people that we think that killing people is usually wrong, except in certain unusual circumstances, is perfectly logical, as far as it goes.

A good slogan is no substitute for actual thought.

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