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Submitted by Graham Barnes, Jan 8, 2007 10:47
Surely capital punishment is the means by which society affirms the humanity of the criminal, that which he shares with us. By punishing him up to the level of his crimes, we affirm his absolute moral responsibility for his choices, which is what defines the adult human being. In doing so, we affirm that he was a human like us, and that he made choices which were available to us but which we did not make, and he is now earning his proper reward for having made them.
Choosing a lesser punishment than warranted always infantilizes the criminal, diminishing his moral responsibility and with it his full humanity, and ought to be reserved for children and the provably, and seriously mentally incompetent. We do an adult human no honour to treat him as such by denying him accountability, whether or not he wants it.
Neither should either deterrence or the opinion of the victims be primary concerns, for they are of lesser importance than the interests of society in justice. And justice does include punishment, first and foremost. For that reason, the otherwise satisfying and on some level deeply moral impulse to grant the victims the prerogative of private revenge or private mercy needs to be replaced by the proper coldness of public justice.
And this approach gives some help to those struggling with Saddam's bravado. He was a human being in full, which is why we owed him death for his acts. It was that humanity which also reminds us that we are beings capable of almost anything, if freed of law, civilization, and higher obligations. And it was that humanity which left him with possible good qualities, perhaps including genuine personal bravery. We lose nothing by acknowledging it. He showed a better understanding of fate, justice and accountability than a world of western liberals. I submit that his display elevated the execution, by reinforcing the point that this was a man being killed for good reason, not merely the putting down of some animal. His regime had its share of clownishness, but he died like a warlord should die. Good for him. The justice of his death is exalted, not tainted, by it.
I appreciate that Mr. Halkin is coming from a deeply ethical and presumably Jewish perspective on these issues, and I was interested in the flexibility of his approach. I also note that many Christians have issues with capital punishment. I am more intrigued by the opposition of the left to such measures. If the project of our age is to secularize or repaganize the west, then I see no problem here. What is the value of a human life without a soul, the mere extension of an evolutionary trend-line? What is the value of a human life to a true pagan, unless it be a life of his own blood or his own citizenship? If these are to be the paths our civilization is to tread, then these debates are pointless. Rejoice in the death of enemies.
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