Poll: Revenge

[Internet Kraken]

I've recently started writing a paper about the death penalty, which of course brought up the morals surrounding issue. One of the arguments I've heard from the pro side says that the death penalty is a good thing because it gives the family of the murderer's victim emotional comfort.

It's essentially saying that one reason to have the death penalty is so that people can take comfort in the act of revenge. Am I wrong in thinking that this is a bad thing? In my opinion, revenge is simply another word for Schadenfreude, as you are ultimately receiving satisfaction at the sight of another person's misfortune. Apparently, people should take joy in watching a murderer die. While murderers are certainly bad people, why should we intentionally kill them just to enjoy their suffering? In some cases a murderer kills somebody because of Schadenfreude. By killing the murderer, you're essentially doing the same thing.

What I'm trying to say is that I don't get why people think intentionally killing a murderer is morally justified, since you end up doing something similar to what they did. Assuming you were able to understand my confusing post, then I ask this; is killing someone for revenge morally justified? I want to get some more opinions on this.

 

[delet]

Oh cool, this thread.

Yea, it's allowing people revenge but without giving them responsibility; we all know that if they tried to actually carry out revenge themselves they'd be punished greatly.

I think the other half of the Death Penalty is a reliance on the belief of an afterlife; it's believed that they'll be sent to Hell where they'll be punished for all of eternity. I say we can't leave things like that to belief and chance. They should have to live the rest of their lives to the point where they actually have to think about their actions instead of releasing them from this world for the slim chance that they'll be sent to Hell.

 

[rokkolpo]

i don't care if it's justified.

i know i will kill anyone killing my family, i'll do the jail time like a man and smile the entire 4 years. (which is awfully short for murder)

 

[reg42]

On the topic of the death penalty: I think we should take convicted murderers (or serious cases. This obviously wouldn't apply to every single case) and shoot them in the head.
It saves money and prison space. If someone kills in cold blood then that's what they deserve in my opinion.

 

[Abedeus]

Eye for an eye is the perfect legal system.


In other words, RAAAAAAE... I mean, REEEVEEENGE!!!

 

[oreopizza47]

agreed, eye for an eye.
if they were dumb enough to waste their life ending others, their life doesn't deserve to go on.

 

[Marter]

I don't agree with the death penalty, as I cherish all human life. Killing another isn't something I think is a good thing, and doing it as a punishment for their crimes doesn't teach them anything. All it does is end their life, which once ended, no longer matters to them.

 

[FolkLikePanda]

I believe so, yes it may be bitter sweet, but damn is it sweet. Also an eye for an eye does make the world go blind, but at least the eyes of evil are blinded too. Anyway death pebnalty, give it to murderers, rapists and paedophiles, people like that don't feel guilt, if they feel guilt they wouldn't have done it in the first place. Plus detrrent works, if you say you will get killed if you kill than people will be scared and decide not to, not saying this will stop all murders but it will decrease the murder rate. Also it would rather have tax money go to killing someone convicted of heavy wrong doing than to have the money go to clothing, feeding and sheltering them. One problem is wrongful executions thouhg with DNA and the sorts nowadays you can be 99% positivie of who has committed the crime, plus people who are wrongly executed most likely have done something harsh anyway. On an added note, I'd rather see them get torutred, make them feel guilt by making them wish for death yet not bringing it to them. Unfortunetly it conflicts with UN Human Rights (people who commit crimes like that aren't humans) and Geneva Convention.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

If you kill someone i love then that's when my inner psycho will be released and i will hunt your ass down but i won't kill you right away I'll just torture your psyche to the point were you can't even leave your house there's so much fear within you. Then while you're at this fragile point is when i will strike but now with physical torture and i'll keep doing this until you realize what you have done then i leave but thanks to the everlasting mark of fear and regret i've left on you the only choice left is death.

 

[delet]

Oh cool, this thread.

Yea, it's allowing people revenge but without giving them responsibility; we all know that if they tried to actually carry out revenge they'd be punished greatly.

I think the other half of the Death Penalty is a reliance on the belief of an afterlife; it's believed that they'll be sent to Hell where they'll be punished for all of eternity. I say we can't leave things like that to belief and chance. They should have to live the rest of their lives to the point where they actually have to think about their actions instead of releasing them from this world for the slim chance that they'll be sent to Hell.

On my dollar?

Fuck that. Waste of money and a waste of life.

Kill em all.

What is jail for if not a harsher form of Time Out? Perhaps if we stopped wasting so much money on things such as, I dunno, minor drug offenses then we could have enough money and space for these people to suffer.

Nothing it more horrible a punishment than living through with your actions.

 

[redblinky]

Oh cool, this thread.

Yea, it's allowing people revenge but without giving them responsibility; we all know that if they tried to actually carry out revenge they'd be punished greatly.

I think the other half of the Death Penalty is a reliance on the belief of an afterlife; it's believed that they'll be sent to Hell where they'll be punished for all of eternity. I say we can't leave things like that to belief and chance. They should have to live the rest of their lives to the point where they actually have to think about their actions instead of releasing them from this world for the slim chance that they'll be sent to Hell.

On my dollar?

Fuck that. Waste of money and a waste of life.

Kill em all.

If all it were that simple right? A guy down here molested a young girl and only went to jail for like 2 years that just makes no sense to me.

On the topic of the death penalty: I think we should take convicted murderers (or serious cases. This obviously wouldn't apply to every single case) and shoot them in the head.
It saves money and prison space. If someone kills in cold blood then that's what they deserve in my opinion.

Yeah too bad it costs like three times more to give someone the death penalty then put them in prison for life. My opinion it would be nice to see self-sufficient prisons. Make them like farm and shit with no A/C a "dont work dont eat" style. Maybe it would deter maybe it wouldn't but this current judicial system has to go.

If we could just "shoot them in the head" maybe we'd be better off. However, while I wouldn't mind that solution myself as soon as we see society take that idea on we're looking at a quick and downward spiral real fast.


Also if we spent all the money we waste on minor drug offenders to attempt to rehabilitate convicted felons rather then just giving people a place to visit all there friends for a year or two we might see some progress.

 

[Rarhnor]

Yes

 

[Valkyrie101]

I think the other half of the Death Penalty is a reliance on the belief of an afterlife; it's believed that they'll be sent to Hell where they'll be punished for all of eternity. I say we can't leave things like that to belief and chance. They should have to live the rest of their lives to the point where they actually have to think about their actions instead of releasing them from this world for the slim chance that they'll be sent to Hell.

Most of these people don't think about their actions, because they don't care, hence they committed the crime in the first place. Many of the arguments against the death penalty work on the assumption that everyone is a good person, just some make bad choices. I'm sorry, but this isn't the case. Some people ARE just evil (see Myra Hindley). And if those bad choices leave several children dead, someone's gotta pay.

 

[delet]

I think the other half of the Death Penalty is a reliance on the belief of an afterlife; it's believed that they'll be sent to Hell where they'll be punished for all of eternity. I say we can't leave things like that to belief and chance. They should have to live the rest of their lives to the point where they actually have to think about their actions instead of releasing them from this world for the slim chance that they'll be sent to Hell.

Most of these people don't think about their actions, because they don't care, hence they committed the crime in the first place. Many of the arguments against the death penalty work on the assumption that everyone is a good person, just some make bad choices. I'm sorry, but this isn't the case. Some people ARE just evil (see Myra Hindley). And if those bad choices leave several children dead, someone's gotta pay.

Oh, did I come off as believing humanity to be inherently good? Sorry 'bout that...

No, no, the fact that we're depending on an afterlife to punish them is what bothers me about the Death Penalty. The best punishment is to force them to live the rest of their days in solitude; like I said above, there is no worse punishment than having to live with your actions. They do die in the end, so if there is an afterlife then they'll still go there depending on your belief, so you're just wasting away their life in the meantime which I think is a fitting punishment for ending other lives.

 

[Billion Backs]

Revenge is just a justification for murder for those who want to murder but are afraid of deterrents. So, if you support revenge, you're as much a murderer in the head as an actual murderer, except the guy who followed up with an actual murder got bigger balls then you do.

It's the same thing as demonization of your opponents we see in various ideological conflicts.

When it's another human, who is practically the same as you, on the other side of the conflict, you might reconsider hurting him or her and try diplomacy. When it's a devious beast, a heretic, a disgusting pervert, or an evil nazi, it's easy to attack them. It's all mind manipulation, really. Every human is still a human, no matter what he or she does, morality is not something set in stone, it's simply values created by a society and there can be more then one society abound.

By demonizing its enemies, the state, for example, or a religion, can easily lever those who would otherwise not be as violent to do pretty violent acts against humans who are practically the same as they are.

Wow, and here I am, an amoral hateful nihilist giving fucking peace-talk.

If you're going to murder someone, just murder them and don't bother with justification. Just do it. It's not "for revenge", it's not "because they were evil", it's because you want to fucking murder them. Quit with the fucking excuses.

And I've got no problem with that.

And as a person who's very much against most accepted cultural and societal values, ideologically, I see most criminals simply as people who do not want to follow the current society's way of living for various reasons. Some might seem as more justifiable in my eyes, but it still comes down to that. So, uh, put them in prison because it's still cheaper then death penalty, or conquer Australia and put it to it's old use as a prison island for all the outcasts who harm our current society.

 

[Internet Kraken]

On the topic of the death penalty: I think we should take convicted murderers (or serious cases. This obviously wouldn't apply to every single case) and shoot them in the head.
It saves money and prison space. If someone kills in cold blood then that's what they deserve in my opinion.

What about the innocent people that are sometimes wrongly accused? It does happen, but fortunately there is some chance of the truth being revealed and them being able to resume a normal life. However, the death penalty damages a persons life beyond repair by taking it away. I can not support a law that could potentially ruin an innocent victims life forever even if they are later found to be not guilty, regardless of my own personal morals.

agreed, eye for an eye.
if they were dumb enough to waste their life ending others, their life doesn't deserve to go on.

Why though? Why is this a good thing? How is taking pleasure in the death of a murderer any better than taking pleasure in the death of someone you killed yourself? Both are doing the same thing; taking joy from the murder of another human. It seems utterly pointless and appalling to do this. It doesn't accomplish anything I would consider to be positive, since Schadenfreude is not a good thing.

 

[Zorg Machine]

Justified? yes. Morally sound? no. definitely not. death creates death, violence creates violence. The only way to create a better world is to change and become less destructive. The day we use pure logic to decide between life and death for a fellow human being, is the day we lose everything associated with humanity.

Any man/woman (political correctness is important *drool*) who is given power over peoples lives must be restricted by laws, or have such incredible restraint that they don't even start thinking about the fact that a single pull of the trigger could make the world so clean.
And if a person without that power starts to "clean up the streets" one lowlife at a time, that person is as much, if not more of an animal than the people he/she claims deserve to die.

 

[StrangerMouse]

I don't believe so. I don't even think that death is the worst punishment you can give someone.

 

[Omikron009]

I don't think revenge killing is justified, but if somebody murdered or otherwise seriously wronged a member of my family I would definitely try to kill them, or at least maim them.