An Open Letter to Political Pundits: Convicts != Fetuses != Animals

[rowyn]

What is with this whole soundbite rhetorical argument that, somehow, one's position on the death penalty needs to be aligned with one's position on abortion and/or hunting? Is it so hard to imagine that one could believe that convicted criminals, fetuses, and wild animals are not, in fact, identical creatures and should not, therefore, be treated

Comments

[terrycloth]

It sounds like you're saying that everyone has to be pro-life AND anti-death-penalty AND a total pacifist in order to be ethical. Your argument doesn't actually indicate a conflict between pro-life and pro-death-penalty stances, you're just saying that killing is always wrong (and, in addition, that abortion is killing).

[terrycloth]

I think you're misusing the terms 'consistent' and 'rationalization' in order to comfort yourself about the unpopularity of your own moral choices.

It's just rationaliation, in other words.

[rowyn]

I agree that one can reasonably contend that the two positions should be conflated. But I think it's disingenous to imply that anyone who doesn't conflate them must be hypocritical or irrational. (Not saying that you are doing this, but most of the glib, flippant versions of this argument do.)

Also, I see just as many people complain that pro-choice people are irrational for not favoring the death penalty as that pro-life people are irrational for favoring it.