Hatred and Capital Punishment

I am unable to hate George W. Bush, or even Dick Cheney. These are not nice people. Bush is a despicable person, a tawdry, cheap piece of goods. Cheney is the personification of evil, a fellow who advocates the use of torture, who is largely responsible for the death of thousands. Nor do I hate Tony Blair or Idi Amin or Hitler or Stalin or serial killers or anyone else. Any why not? Because hatred is a cancer that, if allowed to develop, consumes the person who hates. It is visceral. It boils in the gut. Dislike or disapproval, on the other hand, is a reasoned response.

In polls taken the world over, it is shown that a majority of people favour the death penalty for murder. Although many adherents use reasoned argument, many are motivated by the visceral demand for vengeance. To see an argument on this point, click here

If you check out Google, there are a number of websites pro and con. In those favouring the death penalty, some appeal to reason but others contain a number of non-sequiturs and questionable logic. And hatred is all too evident.

The school shootings are prime examples of hatred in action. When the killer turns the gun on himself, he has achieved his purpose and cannot be apprehended. The perfect crime. And he has been consumed by his hatred, faster than cancer.