death penalty again (was: Responsibility)

Joanna Sheldon cjs10 at cornell.edu
Wed Jan 26 12:17:46 PST 2000



>So what follows is that to fight racism whe should rally behind that Texas
>guy King who got death penalty for dragging a black man behind his truck.
>What would you recommend instead - psychotherapy?
>
>wojtek

Perhaps! It would certainly cost less, by all accounts.

(Hope you don't mind my jumping in, here, I've been listening in for a day or so...)

Of course King may DESERVE to die -- but that's not the point. The point is whether or not the rest of us should have the right to feel legally justified in killing him.

It is not so much a moral repugnance against the act of killing that forms the strongest argument against the death penalty, though there is that as well, but rather a moral/political rejection of the legalization of killing, the granting of social blessing to the act.

Pardon me if this point was made in earlier discussions on the topic.

Joanna

www.overlookhouse.com



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