by Stanley Hendrix

Created on: June 04, 2009   Last Updated: June 05, 2009

DEATH PENALTY

Call me crazy, but I think that if you kill someone, you no longer deserve to live on this earth. I am very much pro death penalty. Not because I think that the death penalty is such a big deterrent, but because that person will never kill anyone again. If they get life in prison, without the chance of parole, they could still kill again. They could escape and go on a killing spree, or in prison they could kill another inmate.

This is an issue that not many people sit on the fence. They're either strongly for it, or strongly against it. I think the people that say they don't care, are really for it, but don't want anyone to know. There are factors that determine what side of the fence people are on. Naturally if you're in prison for murder, you're against it. If a family member was murdered, then you're for the death penalty.

People that are for the death penalty have different opinions on how the execution should be carried out. There are some that think the firing squad is a good method. There are some that believe in hanging. And of course there is the old reliable electric chair. The most popular way these days is lethal injection. Maybe it's just me, but I think if you brutally murder another human being, lethal injection is too easy a way for you to go. Maybe the family of the murder victim should decide how the murderer should die. I know this would never happen in our society, but maybe the punishment should fit the crime. The murderer should die the same way that his victims died.

How I feel about the death penalty has nothing to do with an eye for an eye, but more of a belief that if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Don't get me wrong, when I say sword, I'm not talking about soldiers that kill in combat. I don't think that just because you kill someone you should die. People kill in self-defense. People are killed in accidents. I don't think every murderer should get the death penalty. Each case should be judged on its own merits, but the death penalty should always be on the table as an option. If a drunk driver gets in a wreck and someone dies, the driver should be put in jail not to death. If two guys get in a fight, one of them pulls a gun and kills the other one, he should go to jail for a long time. If two guys get in a fight, one of them leaves and comes back with a gun and kills the other one, then the death penalty should be an option.

I'll be right back, the news is on and I never miss the news . . .

I just saw the strangest thing on the news. They're digging up the yard of an old guy right down the road from me. So far they've found about fifteen bodies. I just can't believe it; I've known this guy for more than twenty-five years. He's the nicest, sweetest, old guy; he wouldn't hurt a flea. I sure hope he doesn't get the chair.

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