DP Repost: Sympathy for the Devil

[varkam]

I wrote this a few months back, and I figured that it would be a bit more topical now given that NJ just repealed the death penality. Enjoy!

I guess that you could say that I am a little disheartened as of late with respect to some of the things that I have read here on the Democratic Underground. I know that we are a fairly disparate group of people in that we differ from one another (sometimes markedly so) in our opinions. Sometimes it seems we can find little common ground, especially if you venture into the topic forums.

I think what I am about to say, however, is probably uncontroversial: there are such things as fundamental human rights. In other words, by the very virtue of simply being a person we have certain, inalienable rights. It doesn't really matter where you think those rights come from, be it God or society, but simply that we have them. I say that is probably uncontroversial as it is one of the founding principles of the United States.

What that means, then, is that we should be afforded certain protections, enforceable by the state, that are non-negotiable. We have the right to be free in our thought and our speech. We have the right to basic human dignity. I could go on for a while, but suffice it to say that these fundamental human rights are the foundation for both our country and our criminal justice system (in that those who choose to violate the rights of others are punished accordingly).

Now, what I am about to say will probably be unpopular. I will preface it by saying that I am not a perfect person. I have lied. I have hurt and used people. I have made many mistakes and, I suspect, will make many, many more before I go into the ground. I do not claim to be any more moral than anyone else here.

But what I am disheartened by is seeing usually reasonable people proposing rather unreasonable and barbaric courses of action being taken against certain individuals whom you might call the worst among us. People who violate our sense of right and wrong, our sense of decency, our values in some of the most horrific ways imaginable. People who harm the innocent and the helpless. People that harm our children. The murders. The rapists. The molesters. The people who, through their acts, take all that is good and corrupt it. The people who, as a result of their crimes, strip us of our collective innocence and force us into a reality that is uncomfortable for us all. A reality where the bad guy can win. A reality where the good guy, though the cause is just, suffers. A reality that makes us yearn for justice and a sense of fairness.

I'm talking about the John Coueys of the world. The Jeffrey Dahmers. The Charles Mansons. The Osama bin Ladens. Their crimes should outrage us, should make us ill, should make us cry, for I mourn the passing of our society when they do no longer.

They are, however, human beings - and nothing can change that. Not the ruthlessness of their method, nor the remorselessness of their psyche. As I said before, human beings are entitled to certain non-negotiable rights. Rights that should be extended to the Coueys, the Dahmers, the Mansons, and the bin Ladens. Notice here, however, that you can simultaneously do this while affirming that their acts deserve a swift and unequivocal response. I am not a Christian, but the phrase "hate the sin, love the sinner" comes to mind.

I understand our desire for retribution, to visit onto the offender the suffering that they have wrought - for it's own sake. I understand our desire for revenge. But we should not allow retribution to become the sole reason for punishment, we should not allow our desire for revenge to obscure our reason - for I will likewise mourn the passing of our society when they do.

As a closing thought, I forget the source but I recall the parable of slaying monsters. When we slay our own collective monsters, we should take care not to become monsters ourselves.

I take a stand on the principle of fundamental human rights, and do so because I believe if one among us has lost them, then they are no longer fundamental, no longer non-negotiable. Either we all have fundamental human rights, or none of us do.

Thank you for reading.