The hypocrisy behind the myth...

...that is religion.

I have just finished reading John Grisham's The Confession and am now - if that's possible - even more against Capital Punishment than I was before.

The Confession is a fiction novel based on true cases as experienced by ex-lawyer John Grisham . It is a must- read to all those who still support state-sponsored killing.

Almost all of the so called civilised world has given up on Capital Punishment - some in recent years and Portugal (one of the first) 110 years ago.

The two main reasons to stop such an evil and archaic form of punishment are obvious -  revenge should have no place in justice and it is wrong to kill.

The most worrying aspect of Capital Punishment in some states in the USA for instance, are its supporters. An army made up mostly of Bible-bashers who constantly ask God for forgiveness but are themselves incapable of forgiving. The supporters range from  ordinary folk to pastors, vicars and other so-called men-of-God and most worryingly, vote-hungry politicians.

Hypocrisy of the highest form when you consider Jesus' teachings about "turning the other cheek" and "let he who is free of sin, cast the first stone".

Thou Shalt Not Kill! 

The Bible doesn't say "thou shalt not kill unless you are the State condemning to death a criminal who has been convicted of murder in the court of man - often wrongly - but never mind if the odd innocent is put to death by mistake"   Does it? 

No it doesn't.

I would challenge any "real" Christian who supports Capital Punishment to write a comment explaining their position. In fact I would challenge anyone, regardless of their beliefs, to justify Capital Punishment.

The simple truth is that there is no justification.

It is not a deterrent (check stats of murder rates in the states with CP against those without)

It is inhuman.

It is pure revenge

I have written a couple of posts in the past about this most unpleasant subject, with more details and  statistics.  For those of you who may want to read more, here are the links.

http://joesgossip.blogspot.com/2010/09/and-another-murder-goes-unpunished.html

http://joesgossip.blogspot.com/2010/09/when-justice-is-tainted-by-revenge-poor.html

Rant over, I feel better now.

:)

World Day Against Capital Punishment (not applicable to Gaddafi)

I was reminded a few days ago, while checking my e-mails in Yahoo, that it was the World Day Against Capital Punishment. I decided to write a post but left it in the edit section until today.

Everyone knows my sentiments on this topic already. I have written posts about it, most recently "Another murder goes unpunished" after the execution of a mental patient in Virginia USA (Yes, it really did  happen!) and  hightlighted statistics in another post "When justice is tainted by revenge..."

Well done to Amnesty International for never giving up the fight and for constantly highlighting cases from the handful of countries who still continue with this barbaric and archaic form of revenge punishment.

Whilst I am a life-long objector of Capital Punishment, I am also human and as such couldn't help smiling at today's news that Colonel Gaddafi had been killed. He was executed by his pursuers. That is very wrong, but in this case, and this case only, the outcome is justified. Another contradiction from me I know.

I wrote about Gaddafi back in February when the Lybian Revolution started and had no idea then when it would end. Well, the end is nigh!

Good luck to all Lybians who now have the unenviable task of burying their dead while at the same time rebuilding their shattered country. All because a deluded old fool refused to see sense.


"Dead man walking" - Recent photo of the lunatic pensioner

Nice to think that the "free world" helped the Lybian people topple the tyrant. Nato's contribution was vital in the process. Funny how Nato is not doing the same in Syria.!  Oh yes, silly me, there's no oil in Syria. So fuck the people who live there.

(Note to Self: I hope readers detect the subtle sarcasm...)

Nato and the "free world" don't seem to care much for the oppressed peoples of Syria, Zimbabwe, The Yemen and a few other banana-republics. Coincidentally (or not) these nations don't have oil.

Oh, the hypocrisy of it all.

But I digress.

I wanted to write about Capital Punishment and here I go.

To all the innocent people who have been wrongly executed, I say this;

You were wrongly convicted but sadly your innocence was not enough to save you. I try to imagine how you felt moments before being put to death, but I can't. My imagination can't do it justice, just like your executioners.

My words can't help you now, I know, but please accept my humble apologies. I write nonetheless, in the faint hope that someone will read it and if not, throw it into the great Bottomless Pit of Protest along with all the pleas from millions of decent people throughout history. People who, like you and me, refuse to give up hope.

Imagine the execution of an innocent person!

How can anyone imagine such a cruel predicament?

*
Did you give up and resign yourself to your fate like a 'lamb to slaughter'?
Or did you lash out in desperation?
Did you wonder if your loved ones believed your innocence?
Or were you worried they doubted you too?
Did you want to send your loved one a last message?
Could you sleep at night?
Did you ever ask if justice would be done to your executioners for killing you?
Did you ever ask why the executioners can kill and be rewarded for it, but you can't?
Did you wish there was a God in heaven?

Did you cry? Did you ever stop crying?


**
My sincere apologies on behalf of all humanity.
:(

Anders Breivik v Rick Perry

What have Anders Breivik and Rick Perry (State Governor of Texas) got in common?

They are both mass-murderers.

Fellow blogger Louis from Arizona has posted an entry about it, and its got to me, big time. Check out "On The Tracks".

 It has made me re-read a couple of my older posts about the subject. 'Another murder goes unpunished'  of 26 sept 2010 and 'when justice is tainted by revenge...' 20 sept 2010


Capital Punishment is evil and barbaric, it is legalised murder, it is State-endorsed assassination, it is inhumane, and most importantly it IS NOT a deterrent (check stats online)

Two wrongs will never make a right...

...but three lefts make a right?!

Thanks Louis for bringing up the old chestnut again

:)

From Japan to Illinois

As the pro-democracy protests rumble across the Arab nations,
 on the other side of the world Mother Nature too has shaken humanity's  foundations with one of the worst earthquakes in recent times; and a tsunami too.

The powerful quake shook loose Japan's underpinnings and the 10 metre sea swell that followed swept away all in its path, including thousands of people.

 

Japan sits on top of four tectonic plates (the hardened outer shell segments of our planet) all vying for space and moving towards each other at a rate of several centimetres per year. Tectonic plates are constantly moving due to our planet's spin and soft inner layers of molten rock (the mantle). The plates under Japan are steadily massing together. The stress builds up over time and then at some point it overcomes the lock between two plates. When that happens, you have an earthquake. If the epicentre of the quake is under the sea bed, the result of one plate's edge clambering onto another is a sudden rise in the level of the sea bead, creating uplift and a tsunami is born.

Japan is the worlds hot spot for earthquakes with

 approximately 1000 per year

My heart goes out to all the victims and their loved ones, who now have the unenviable task of picking up the pieces of their shattered lives.   :(

**

MOMMA C's STATE  SHOWS THE WAY FORWARD.

On a lighter note, the state of Illinois has become the 16th US state to abolish the death penalty. Congrats to Governor Pat Quinn. Yeahhhh :)

Thirty-four states still have the death penalty though, as per my previous post on the subject  :(

and another murder goes unpunished...

.
...in the good ol' conservative state of Virginia, USA.

State governor Bob McDonnell (Republican) must be feeling proud to be the first governor since 1912 to authorise the state-killing of a woman prisoner. Grandmother and long-term mental illness sufferer Theresa Lewis was executed by lethal injection for arranging the murders of her husband and step-son.

State endorsed murder of the first degree that will go unpunished...well, not quite. This evil act will come back to haunt those responsible. Killing the sick instead of attempting to cure them is not the way forward for civilised societies.

The irony of this tragic abuse of basic human rights is that the men who actually carried out the killings were caught but spared the death penalty!

Is there any difference between the actions of the state of Virginia (76%Christian) and the vilified justice of the Taliban (100% Muslim)? I can't see any. If there is, please enlighten me.

Theresa Lewis                        the evil tools of the trade

How can this barbaric act be carried out by so called Christians - New Testament followers? The famous words of  Jesus "let he who is free of sin cast the first stone" sadly doesn't apply to the butchers of Virginia.

And where was President Obama? He could have intervened but chose not to! Clearly doesn't mind a bit of blood in his hands. I have lost all respect for the man - he doesn't have the balls to back his convictions.

The USA will never be taken seriously by the civilised world societies until it abolishes Capital Punishment in all its states. Until then, the US will be associated with the barbaric and archaic states that are also its enemies. Oh my...the irony of it all...

.

When justice is tainted by revenge, not only the poor and the sick suffer

.
I have always been against Capital Punishment. I remember always feeling disgusted and angry whenever an execution took place somewhere around the world. I still do! Images of public beheadings in Asia and the electric chair in America still invoke feelings of despair in my sensitive being.  The worst possible nightmare scenario must be when an innocent is executed. It's irreversible and against basic human rights.

I became a member of Amnesty International long ago and believed that doing so would help change the world. Ah, the aspirations of the young!  I mean that "third" of the world that still persists in executing some of it's criminals. That "third" of the world truly shackled to the past when it comes to all matters judicial. That "third" of the world that stubbornly believes Capital Punishment is a deterrent! That same "third" of the world that is clearly "third world" when it comes to Law.  I associate the death penalty with times-gone-by,  when life was cheap and death accepted as an everyday occurrence. Capital punishment is not a deterrent and never has been! All the statistics from the UN, Amnesty Int'l  and other human rights organizations prove beyond doubt the futility of the death penalty. If it's not a deterrent, then it must be an act of revenge! Pure and simply - revenge.

Below (the brown shaded area) is the "Map Of Shame" of the countries that believe two wrongs make a right. The countries that still kill people for killing people.

With the exception of Belarus (who?) Europe has long since abolished Capital Punishment. Why then does the UN still tolerate this evil barbaric practice in a third of the world? 

Only three industrialised democracies still have the death penalty. The USA, Japan and South Korea. 

The USA? Incredible! But the US has one of the highest murder rates in the world! Clearly not a deterrent there. In fact it is  not a deterrent anywhere.

Why not lock up the worst criminals forever, if necessary, and make them work their arse off to pay back society? Isn't that a better way? To make matters worse, 10% of all the inmates on death row in the States are suffering from mental illnesses! The rest are poor and can't afford the right lawyers.

Aren't civilised nations supposed to cure the sick? How can killing be justified?

 "Don't do as I do, do as I tell you"

Not since the Nazi war have the sick been helped to die at the doctors door.

I will end this rant with the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi on revenge.

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

.