To Kill Or Not To Kill
Regarding my views on the sanctity of life, one thing remains and one has changed.
The first is that I continue to believe that when we determine when life begins or when life has value, we must then struggle with who determines which and when.
In this scenario, the person or society in power to make such a decision must then struggle with why they have come to such a conclusion and who they deem fit to live or not live.
I find this reprehensible. If humanity determines its worth and value then these ideals are subjective. Our value to society today is worth nothing tomorrow depending on who’s in power.
Following this train of thought, namely, that we cannot add nor remove the value of life, I must say that what has changed in me is this: if life is truly inherently valuable, that means I can no longer support capital punishment.
I cannot support the death penalty, the noose, the firing squad, the gas chamber, or lethal injections well knowing that every life is intrinsically valuable.
This was an argument I previously supported and later discovered that it stood on a slippery slope of morals and ethics, bending more so on me determining when someone’s life mattered or not. I used to think that when someone took a life they then forfeited their life and must then suffer the same consequence. This idea, to me, forfeited my conviction of intrinsic value.
Because then ‘I’ become the ultimate determinant of whose life is valuable and when it ceases to be valuable.
In this case, my idea is contradictory and it cannot stand on its own two broken legs.
To Live Is The Answer
In conclusion, I find that abortion is the holocaust of my generation, perhaps the unseen holocaust of the 20th and 21st centuries. A blight in human history the next generation or two will possibly study and scratch their heads over for centuries to come. Following this thought, I have now come to accept that capital punishment is no longer a necessary nor logical form of punishment. It is unnecessary considering how we have better means of detaining criminals and deterring violent offenders from entering society. What I mean is that if the system in place does keep the criminal in question incarcerated.
If you agree, disagree, or would like to add to this process of thought of mine, feel free to interact with me below.
Discussion helps us grow. Debate helps us think. Uncivility tears us apart. Let us interact.
These thoughts were originally posted to Facebook on December 02, 2019. Minor edits were made for clarity.
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. – Proverbs 31:8 NLT
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