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Originally Posted by vraiblonde  I think the death penalty is right for practical reasons, not moral or religious. So I didn't vote. |
That's my sentiment exactly, so I voted neither but has its uses, since it was the closest to my opinion. Otherwise, I thought the poll itself was worded about as idiotically as possible. What's wrong with just "Other"?
Making it a 'religious' issue strikes me as beyond absurd. I've been in religious CULTS before, and none of them would have sanctioned the death penalty on religious grounds. Of course, I've never been MUSLIM.
But to me it's also not a moral issue any more than issuing speeding tickets or jailing someone is - it's a practical matter of law. In fact, to me it's just as ridiculous to OBJECT to it on moral reasons, because if it's cruel and immoral to execute someone, it can't be any *kinder* to lock them up for life. Jeez, we PUNISH children by placing them in timeout - how "kind" would it be to put 'em in timeout for five years? Or to incarcerate a young man for twenty, knowing you'll mostly destroy his chances of ever having a normal life? Or to do the same to a young mother, knowing she'll never be with her children again, or the same to a senior, knowing they'll never live long enough to ever leave?
You yourself gave me the best line regarding the death penalty I've ever heard, and I've used it many times, to wide support, even if you didn't invent it - you don't put down a rabid dog as a deterrent to other dogs.