Mind boggling!

[delphia2ohohoh]

Yes, I'm about to get on my political soapbox about our guv again. Cut for the tender sensibilities of intelligent peoples.


This quote is in the Anchorage Daily News this morning:

Incoming state House speaker Mike Chenault is pushing to reinstate the death penalty in Alaska, and Gov. Sarah Palin is all for it.

So is state Rep. Jay Ramras, who says "hang 'em high," and that he would pass a death penalty bill out of the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs.

**snip!**

Palin, a Republican, said in phone interview that she favors bringing the death penalty back to Alaska, particularly for cases where children are murdered. Someone who does that should not ever be able to again, she said.

"Coming out of the chute, knowing that a lawmaker would pursue the death penalty in Alaska for murder, then I would support it," Palin said. "And then we'll see where he goes with the specifics."

Excuse me? Isn't this this lady all us women were supposed to vote for because she took a PRO-LIFE stance? Remember those words....pro-LIFE. As in living human beings? Since when is the support of the death penalty a pro-life stance? Why is it that someone who wants to protect the rights of unborn pieces of flesh that may or may not become a living, breathing, thinking, feeling human believes that the words 'Thou shalt not kill' should only extend to the womb? Why is it okay to kill an adult? Is it okay because we (a general 'we') have judged, right or wrong, that this person deserves to die? 'We' never make mistakes about who committed a crime? We get to ignore that other command 'judge not' line from the Bible too?

I'm not saying that punishing a person who has been convicted of a heinous crime is wrong. I'm just saying that I'm not convinced that the death penalty is right. Locking someone up will make sure they don't do it again without having to resort to murder. Or are only abortions murder? Death penalty is okay because it's a law, right, and therefore not murder? Well, abortions are legal too.

Can't have it both ways, Sarah.

How do I feel about the death penalty personally? I'm not convinced it's a good thing. I don't think it's going to make a difference when it comes to lowering a murder rate in this country. I am sometimes swayed by my righteous anger when I hear about horrible crimes. But it's a very permanent act that can't be rescinded if further proof vindicates a conviction. I'm also troubled that penalties for crimes are not evenly handed out as it is. It's pretty well proven by stats that white folks get less time than people of color for crimes. I just can't support it.

But let me make this clear: I believe that anyone who is anti-abortion and pro-death penalty is a hypocrite. Period.

Comments

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Politically, pro-life only deals with abortion. I've found most "pro-life" supporters also support the death penalty.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

If by "politically" you mean "as a political label," then you're probably right: the term is generally used by people just to refer to opponents of abortion.

But as part of an overall philosophy--no! No, no, no! I know lots of people call themselves "pro-life" who support the death penalty, but a lot of us strongly oppose the death penalty. Pope John Paul II finally took a public stand against it and declared that too to be a life issue. The US Catholic Bishops officially launched their campaign against the death penalty in 2005 as part of an overall pro-life platform. (They had officially opposed it since at least 1980, and many quite publicly before that.)

I wouldn't join National Right to Life partly because they wouldn't take a stand against the death penalty (there were other reasons too; there are some extremists in that group, although a lot of good people). I found out too late to join that my local Right to Life in the last place I lived were in fact opponents of the death penalty.

I'm not by any means alone. I fear that too many loud people who call themselves pro-life for a lot of national groups to take a stand; I was horrified to find just now that Feminists for Life no longer seems to mention the death penalty in any obvious place on their website, because I went to get a link to it, but FFL has opposed the death penalty for a long time, one of the reasons why I joined.

Back when I did my posts on why I'm pro-life, the second installment started with the death penalty (here).

[tejas.livejournal.com]

I was speaking of the political label, the political movement, the organizations. I know quite a few people who use the term in a logical manner. I may not agree with them, but I certainly respect them for it.