Poll: Are murderers forgivable?

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Verlander

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Apr 22, 2010
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Everyone fucks up, some people fuck up worse. I can't make a blanket statement on how inherently evil "murderers" are, so yes, some murderers are forgiveable.
 

Twilight_guy

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Nov 24, 2008
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Anything is forgivable. No one is beyond redemption. Hooray for Christan values!

I don't think there is any one act that makes a person so vile they can't come back. Maybe I'm just a misty eyed romantic optimist though.
 

SilentCom

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Mar 14, 2011
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It's not about whether the murderers are forgiveable but rather are the victims willing to forgive?
 

retyopy

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Aug 6, 2011
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SilentCom said:
It's not about whether the murderers are forgiveable but rather are the victims willing to forgive?
Well... They can't, can they? You know, because they're dead. As in, they don't function anymore. At all.
 

Adam28

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Feb 28, 2011
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A murderer is by definition, a criminal who commits homicide (who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being).

The law doesn't decide what is morally right or wrong because these beliefs differ from person to person, it just tries to maintain order based on what the majority of society or as some would argue the ruling powers agrees on.

What I am trying to say is, they may have broken the law but I may be agree with their actions or at least as the thread asks, forgive them. However I can understand why those who do commit murder must be punished as we can't break law and order based on our own feelings towards the murder e.g. believing a mother shouldn't be prosecuted for killing an abusive EX to bother her and her kids.

Anyway, yeah they can be forgiven based on their actions or/and who they become.
 

Dominic Burchnall

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Jun 13, 2011
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I think it is entirely relative to circumstance. There was a Louis Theroux documentary about a prison in the United States (I believe the title as U.S. mega-jails), where he met a man awaiting trial for the triple murder. He had gunned down three men as part of gang retaliation as they left a court hearing.

On the face of it, this is the definition of first degree murder. However, the reason he killed them was because these men had intentionally killed the child of a close friend. While incarcerated, he had requested to be placed in solitary, because he didn't want to get involved in the gang and turf rivalry which took place in the larger cells. He devoted his time to reading through the dictionary, because he was aware he was not well educated, and had written books which he then sent to his girlfriend in an attempt to get them published, and even advised guards on which parts of the cell could be made into makeshift knives by other inmates. Whoever he had been when he went in, it was clear he was no longer that same man now.

That's why I don't think ALL killers should be lumped under the same banner. There may be mitigating circumstances, I think if anyone had murdered a child of my friend I would kill them as well. And over time, there is a chance for people to change.
 

Ulquiorra4sama

Saviour In the Clockwork
Feb 2, 2010
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"Killing is badong!"
Shouldn't be too hard to figure out the referance.

I would normally say that killing should never be an option, but it's kind of a naive mindset i have. Sometimes it's necessary for your own survival or to protect those we care about.

"They stand up for the people they care about, they pick up sword for those who shed tears"
Not referanced from the same place.

It just goes to show that we'll do anything to protect what's important to us, and if you're killing to protect a life then i'd say you've killed for a just reason.
 

SilentCom

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retyopy said:
SilentCom said:
It's not about whether the murderers are forgiveable but rather are the victims willing to forgive?
Well... They can't, can they? You know, because they're dead. As in, they don't function anymore. At all.
The murdered are not the only victims. Friends and family are affected by their loss and are therefore victims as well.
 

emeraldrafael

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Jul 17, 2010
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I could see justified. Forgivable is a stretch, but certainly they can be justified.

Then again, any wwar hero whos ever killed someone is a murderer int he first the degree, and we seem to give them a pass (which is good cause my uncle would have gotten the chair or at least no less then fifty consecutive life sentences for all the Korean, Chinese, Russian and Vietnamese soldiers he killed during the korean and Vietnam war.
 

Yopaz

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Jun 3, 2009
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JoJoDeathunter said:
Yopaz said:
JoJoDeathunter said:
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
So a person willingly putting poison making him unable to make considerations will be forgiven murder? The law states (and I agree with it) that if you put yourself in a situation where you are unable to be responsible for your actions then you are still guilty of the actions you commit. This sent a schizophrenic who had killed someone behind bars. The reason he killed someone was that he had stopped taking medications because they made him gain weight.
Note the words "could be possibly be forgivable". The only situation where murder would be automatically forgivable would be where the murderer was (by age or disability) entirely unable to understand what they were doing. If someone killed someone-else in a fit of drunken rage, did their time in prison and regretted what they did, came out and made a new life for themselves, I might see fit to forgive them personally. Remember being forgiven doesn't mean avoiding punishment.
I never said being forgiven means there wouldn't be any punishment. I said that someone who did something for a forgivable reason shouldn't be jailed since that lock him up in a bad position where he's most likely going to continue a life of crime because he wont have a choice.

I also know one guy who's likely to kill someone in a drunken fit because he's almost done it already. Sure he was angry and he was drunk. He was angry because he was drunk and no other reason. He always end up beating up someone while drunk, but he keeps drinking. If he kills someone while he's drunk it's his fault for drinking while being aware of the possible consequences.
I wont forgive someone who did something while unable to control himself if he was the one who made him unable to control himself.
 

i7omahawki

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Mar 22, 2010
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Fawxy said:
Pedophiles who have raped children (and yes, no matter how you might wish to romanticize it IT IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE RAPE) do not deserve the light of day, and should be exterminated. They are a blight to society and by violating the basic human rights of children deserve none of their own.

HOWEVER, pedophiles who have not (and are of the moral fortitude to never do so) acted on their urges should by all means be encouraged to seek professional help in order ensure they do not harm anyone.
Romanticize? I'm not sure what the hell you mean by that, where did I say child rape wasn't child rape?

Anyway, I wouldn't argue that they are worthy human beings, but I consider the possibility that we like to differentiate ourselves from pedophiles by almost casting them out of humanity itself. In similar way to how people use the word 'evil', to suggest that this person wasn't a human being with choices who made a terrible choice that will damage somebody for life, but rather a monster who, as you say, should be exterminated.

I think this attitude is part of the problem, and I'm really not trying to romanticize the issue, I'm not really sure what that even means, but I'm mostly thinking about the victim's life hereafter anyway, with the rapist coming a distant second. But, is it really the case that these people are instrinsicly different from us? Not merely that they develop a perversion that is obviously unhealthy to them and others and, we assume from free choice but given the pressures and denials people face from pedophilia, as though developing this terrible but (and this might get me in trouble) natural inclination, which is indisputably unhealthy and, to use the common phrase 'sick', makes one totally different from the rest of humanity, such that they aren't really human but sub-human.

Aren't people who are treated like that, instead of being treated by what is in fact a perversion, MORE likely to consider acting as inhuman as they are labelled and thus feel? If so if we want to reduce the number of child rapes we should be more compassionate about the illness, and when and only when that situation has occurred in society can we truly condemn those that choose this sick act.

As for the now, I think purely on the victims/potential victims side, we should want to help the pedophiles, even the ones who commit these terrible crimes. By doing so, we would learn more about what causes it, and hopefully find a way to stop it from happening that doesn't involve extreme levels of guilt (which as any good psychologist will tell you is a great way to spur on a sexual deviancy rather than quell it). In the end, we want fewer children to be raped, that is the simple end to which we aspire, but bringing it about is literally impossible.

I don't think we could ever totally destroy it as a social phenomena, but it can almost definitely be reduced from what it is now, not by calling people monsters and punishing them until the end of time, but by treating the initial inclination as something natural but deeply, deeply unhealthy. That, and studying child rapists, what makes them better/worse, what situations are similar for those who commit this crime. Majorly I think, if you could treat a child rapist, and it worked, it would look good for reducing the problem of child rape massively.

Anyway, this is only a side-issue to the actual topic, so I'll end by saying that I don't even consider child killers and child rapists deserving of death. I would rather we used them to find out more about why this happens, as I think it'd be a better means of stopping these things happening in the first place. Which is what is important after all.
 

Moronical

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Apr 3, 2010
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Depends. If they killed someone innocent because they panicked or because they're desperate, then they can be forgiven. Especially if they feel remorse/regret for the killing. Murderers who kill killers/evil people are forgivable as well.

If the murderer is a cold blooded bastard who takes pleasure in killing innocent people and probably makes a living out of it, then no. I hope these people die a slow, painful, and horrible death.
 

BehattedWanderer

Fell off the Alligator.
Jun 24, 2009
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Some things can be forgiven. But forgiveness must be sought, and earned, and is not given freely. It is not a matter of regret, or pride, or repentance, but a matter of person.

I would put to you a question in a similar line--if someone commits murder, but such was not the intended outcome, would you let them be there at the funeral?
 

rutger5000

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Oct 19, 2010
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Who are you to judge an act unforgivable? Apart from that I recognize murder and killing as a fundalmental act that defines our species. As far as I know every civilization has known war murder and execution. Like it or not killing is human.
Also you don't define first degree murder very well. What's is the difference between that and a soldier?
As a final note I want to adress the many people who said things like: "Killing bad people is okay." For that I want to cite Christopher Dawson. "As soon as men decide that all means are premitted to fight an evil, their good becomes indistinguisable from the evil they set out to destroy." When you fight bad people you ought to be better then them, killing them is stepping down to their level.
In conclusion I find that we are not fit to judge an act unforgivable, certainly so if such an act is so familiar to us. But I find it arrogant naive and dangerous when people say it's okay to kill bad people.