Vigilantism
I was doing some talking with some MS dudes a few days ago when the concept of vigilantism really pressed down on me. I'm not saying that I was compelled to become a vigilante by any means, I think I further understood the underlying concepts behind it all. See, we were talking about people who blow up abortion clinics and the morality and irony of it all. We were also talking about the death penalty with all the fuss about Governor Schwarzenegger and his decision to kill the gang dude on death row.
That got me thinking about dudes like the Punisher and Batman. I chose these two because they are polar opposites working towards the same goals. Batman realizes that the government simply cannot micromanage every city to eliminate crime. He knows that his parents' deaths were results of rampant crime and inefficient police coverage. On the same token, though, he also understands that killing these criminals would bring him down to the same level of inhumanity. I don't think Batman would be against the death penalty so long as it's a government ruling and not an individual decision. The Punisher, on the other hand, kills indiscriminately. He's out to eliminate evil and everything with a shred of taint. There's no question about his stance on the death penalty.
After pondering this for a while, my thoughts drifted back to the abortion clinic bombers. These guys are trying to eliminate what they consider a threat by cutting it off at the source. Kill all the abortion doctors or scare them out of doing it again, and you eliminate abortion. These activits I'm sure are adamantly against the death penalty.
Needless to say, all parties accomplish something. While politicians lobby about wars on drugs, the Punisher is eliminating the dealers. Abortion politics are held with no advancement in either direction while these bombers make quite an impression with their methods. The reason I brought up the death penalty earlier is because a vigilante would have ended the debate and allowed us to move on to other, possibly more pressing, issues. Politicians are chatting about the moral ramifications of taking the life of a man who has already stepped outside the bounds of law in murder, when they could be putting a stronger focus on foundational concepts like education.
The fact of the matter is that people will always exist who believe each iota of life is more sacred than the rest. People will always be there to counter this notion with a cold, secular sense of justice. Now my thoughts drift to an alternative. Instead of pondering questions which cannot be answered, how about focusing on issues which can be directly and easily addressed if only a bit of time were spent on them.
PS--Skullpants, tell your mom I said Governor Schwarzenegger is not a coward.
That got me thinking about dudes like the Punisher and Batman. I chose these two because they are polar opposites working towards the same goals. Batman realizes that the government simply cannot micromanage every city to eliminate crime. He knows that his parents' deaths were results of rampant crime and inefficient police coverage. On the same token, though, he also understands that killing these criminals would bring him down to the same level of inhumanity. I don't think Batman would be against the death penalty so long as it's a government ruling and not an individual decision. The Punisher, on the other hand, kills indiscriminately. He's out to eliminate evil and everything with a shred of taint. There's no question about his stance on the death penalty.
After pondering this for a while, my thoughts drifted back to the abortion clinic bombers. These guys are trying to eliminate what they consider a threat by cutting it off at the source. Kill all the abortion doctors or scare them out of doing it again, and you eliminate abortion. These activits I'm sure are adamantly against the death penalty.
Needless to say, all parties accomplish something. While politicians lobby about wars on drugs, the Punisher is eliminating the dealers. Abortion politics are held with no advancement in either direction while these bombers make quite an impression with their methods. The reason I brought up the death penalty earlier is because a vigilante would have ended the debate and allowed us to move on to other, possibly more pressing, issues. Politicians are chatting about the moral ramifications of taking the life of a man who has already stepped outside the bounds of law in murder, when they could be putting a stronger focus on foundational concepts like education.
The fact of the matter is that people will always exist who believe each iota of life is more sacred than the rest. People will always be there to counter this notion with a cold, secular sense of justice. Now my thoughts drift to an alternative. Instead of pondering questions which cannot be answered, how about focusing on issues which can be directly and easily addressed if only a bit of time were spent on them.
PS--Skullpants, tell your mom I said Governor Schwarzenegger is not a coward.