Poll: Are murderers forgivable?

[Stalk3rchief]

It depends on who murdered who. No doubt many people, especially here on the Escapist, would view my personal opinion as barbaric and backwards, but I do believe there some people that simply deserve to be killed. If knew there was a man who was raping children or putting out tons of hard drugs and ruining the lives of o many other people, I'd say to myself "Gee, if that guy were to die it would be a good thing"
Sure, police SHOULD deal with them but they either won't or can't. I'm saying that from first and experience, you could find definitive proof and show it to the police and they thank you for the information and that's it.
Not saying that I think it's okay to just go and kill a human being, far from it actually. only point is, there are certain people that should not be allowed to live.

 

[JoJo]

Depends on the murder. For starters, killing in self-defence or by accident isn't murder so they are often forgivable depending on the exact circumstances.

I'd say the following could be possibly be forgivable, depending on circumstance:

-Murder under influence of drugs or drink
-Murder under a false belief which has later been recanted
-Murder in a moment of anger
-Murder of someone who had grievous hurt yourself or someone close to you
-Murder if the murderer was a young child or severely mentally disabled at the time

However I'd say the following could never be forgiven unless the murderer was so young or disabled they were literally unaware of the conseqences:

-Murder of a child
-Murder accompanied by torture, sadism or rape of the victim

 

[Khaine the betrayer]

Yes they are forgivable you even pay for them without knowing it. And do you want to know why well it's called the army!

 

[Spoonius]

What's with all your psychologically investigative threads? This is the third one I've seen.

OT: Whether or not the murderer deserves forgiveness is up to the people emotionally invested in the case.

 

[NotSoLoneWanderer]

Soldiers who accidentally kill civilians are forgiven so yes.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

Depends on the murder.

Murder in self defense, forgivable. I see this as self defense, and under a different category, but not everone shares my view on this.

Accidental murder, forgivable if unforseen as a result.

Murder in a rage...depends a little more on context.

Murder under the influence of a controlled substance but not accidental...again, context is important here and mainly depends on if said substance was/is illegal.

Murder in cold blood/planned, unforgivable, except in the event that the person murdered was a known and immediate threat to yourself or others, but proper authorities should have been notified.

Murder for the sake of murder, obviously not forgivable.

 

[Dogstile]

Sure, depending on their reasons. I see nothing wrong with breaking the neck of a guy who raped your kid. I do however see an issue with someone murdering for money, etc.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I guess it would depend on the circumstances... and I dunno about the law, but I'd be slightly lenient on a guy who killed a rapist...

Also, if that honestly person wanted to be forgiven, then again, I can be a bit lenient.

 

[Layzor]

Listen up buddy, I'm going to give you the answer. The answer to this question and every other philosophical question that seems to be asked all the time on the escapist.

Ready?

It depends. It depends on things, lots of things.

 

[Christopher Bryer]

Well theres a different between a "killer" and a "murderer"

A "killer" is simple someone who has ended another human beings life for reasons beyond his or hers control like killing in self defense..Kind of like doing something that needs to be done but you dont want to do the deed. But using the term killer usually means(A killer is someone or something that kills, such as a murderer)

A "murderer" wanted to kill said human being. I could be for either a selfish or selfless reason but said person still wanted said person dead. But using the term murderer usually means(is the unlawful killing of another human being with "malice aforethought")

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I think a lot of people in this thread are confusing murder and killing, they are two different things.
Really, there is no set answer. There are far too many variables. The justice system is designed with forgiveness and rehabilitation in mind. Ideally, everyone should be allowed to be forgiven for what they have done but that does not mean they shouldn't be punished for it.
In many cases, people have forgiven someone who has murdered loved ones, it can help in the healing process. As many people have said, way too many variables!

 

[Joepow]

If they regret their actions, yes.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Assassinating serial killers, dictators etc. sounds like a good thing to me.

 

[Dags90]

Murder is not forgivable because the person you murdered remains dead and that can't be fixed.

Some people in this thread have talked about killings in war or self defense, those are by definition, not murder.

What about manslaughter?

Honestly, the only person I've met who committed manslaughter was an alright guy. It sound ridiculous to say, but it was a stupid mistake (bar fight on awry).

 

[SaberXIII]

Well, that depends. A person who kills for no adequately explainable pupose, such as enjoyment, selfish gain or bitterness, should not be forgiven, but a person who kills for reasons such as to defend the lives of many others or because that person is a genuine evil or threat, then they should hardly be condemned in the first place.

 

[oktalist]

I think everyone has a different understanding of what forgiveness is. I think everyone is human, no matter what they've done, and everyone has rationales for their actions, even if they are irrational rationales, so to speak, so in that sense I can basically forgive anything. Of course there are actions which should be punished, and the most dangerous people need to be kept out of trouble, but I don't think killing them is a reasonable option. On a personal level I'm not sure if I could forgive the murder of a family member, thankfully that has not happened to me. It is a good thing that a murder victim's family don't get to choose the murderer's punishment.

 

[i7omahawki]

I think it should be forgiven, it is only a single act that does not define the person, though it is obviously a huge act which will have ramifications for everyone involved and the person who committed it.

I just don't think an individual life is that sacred, if it were I would simply die myself from the despair of people dying for no reason, rather than there actually being a reason (no matter how poorly reasoned) in the case of a murderer.

I think life is precious and frankly, fan-fucking-tastic, I think life is the greatest thing about the universe (biased I know) and humanity perhaps the best example of it. But an individual life, not so much, I would do more towards the affirmation and strengthening of life, to take life as far as it can go, not merely protect individual lives or condemn through resentment someone who takes another life.

I recommend reading Crime and Punishment, if you haven't already, fascinating reading on this kind of issue, and by no means is the murderer right, but I think he is in some ways forgivable.

 

[GeorgW]

I'd say it depends on a hell of a lot of factors. Dexter for example, is perfectly forgiveable to me, as I follow the consequentiality ethics. Other than that, if you count military actions as murder then there you have millions of justified murders.
If it's just random nobody A killing random nobody B then it's a lot harder to judge, but I'd say that by definition you can't generalize it as unforgivable.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Obviously depends on the Murdee.

If you've planned out how to kill Hitler, I doubt many people would waggle their fists at you.