Connecticut becomes 17th state to abolish the death penalty

[_ludwigm]

...my hedonistic enjoyment...

...like me who enjoy...

The next step...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPaX7VlZsks

[_Chap]

A thought:

Suppose there is a society in which it is acceptable for 'good' people to say publicly that they enjoy seeing 'bad' people die - as several people on this board have done.

As usual, people all tend to think they themselves are 'good' (I mean, who seriously, deep down, thinks they are bad?).

Now there are some people with what most of us would see as very unusual motivations and moral orientations, who while thinking of themselves as 'good' believe that people can be classed as 'bad' because they are the wrong color, dress provocatively, or fail to show sufficient deference ('respect').

Is it not likely that a society which proclaims that wanting bad people to die is OK is just that bit more likely to see people in the group just described killing their own favorite group of 'bad' people and feeling that this is an OK action?

[_Chap]

...my hedonistic enjoyment...

...like me who enjoy...

The next step...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPaX7VlZsks

Stop being so complicated and Hungarian.

Moral judgements are simple, and are best made by following your gut feelings and saying whatever gives you a 'rush' and makes you feel tough when you say it.

You need to .... what's that phrase 'grow a pair'. Yup. that's it.

[_sock puppet]

I confess to my hedonistic enjoyment of watching the video (cell phone taken by a U.S. soldier) while it was briefly on the internet on 12/31/2006 that showed the day before the trap door dropping under Saddam Hussein, the rope snapping as he hit the end, and his body wriggling in the moments before he was snuffed out. Sorry, but I think he deserved it for the mass killings and torture he ordered on Iraqis, deterrent or not.

Saw it. Wishing someone would leak the Osama bin Laden film.

Me too.

[_sock puppet]

...my hedonistic enjoyment...

...like me who enjoy...

The next step...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPaX7VlZsks

I guess I am not yet at that next step, ludwigm. Only repulsion from watching that one.

[_ludwigm]

Stop being so complicated and Hungarian.

I can't, and don't want to. I take a pride in being Hungarian.

That youtube as an answer to some comments was kind of joke. If You didn't get it... I am sorry.
As a Hungarian, I am thinking differently. Different time zone, different environment.

Please don't forget, any comment I read will be translated online with my special seer stone (my head*...) then interpreted, and my answer should be translated back. Triple chance to err.

You need to .... what's that phrase 'grow a pair'. Yup. that's it.

I should use too many times the Urban Dictionary.
It says "Urban Dictionary is the dictionary you wrote. Define your world"
1. I didn't write it
2. It is not my world

In this special case, after reading the 'grow a pair' entry, I understand all Your words - Your whole sentence was remained undecoded.


*I've read the 'stonehead' entry of Urban Dictionary.

[_ludwigm]

I guess I am not yet at that next step, ludwigm. Only repulsion from watching that one.

I am in the same state.

You know, I am a clinical case of obsession of association.

After any event I think about something which fits. Joke, picture, video - something with similar attributes - and I must to share it...

[_DarkHelmet]

A thought:

Suppose there is a society in which it is acceptable for 'good' people to say publicly that they enjoy seeing 'bad' people die - as several people on this board have done.

As usual, people all tend to think they themselves are 'good' (I mean, who seriously, deep down, thinks they are bad?).

Now there are some people with what most of us would see as very unusual motivations and moral orientations, who while thinking of themselves as 'good' believe that people can be classed as 'bad' because they are the wrong color, dress provocatively, or fail to show sufficient deference ('respect').

Is it not likely that a society which proclaims that wanting bad people to die is OK is just that bit more likely to see people in the group just described killing their own favorite group of 'bad' people and feeling that this is an OK action?

That's the slippery slope argument. Currently the death penalty is reserved for more than just "bad" people. Every day lots and lots of bad people are convicted for doing bad things. Only a small percentage of those guys are sentenced to death. Most bad people are products of their environment, and as a civil society we should give them a chance at rehabilitation. But there is a certain category of bad people that can never be allowed to roam free. We've all heard about them - the psychopaths with no empathy for others, who find pleasure in the suffering of others, or who are sexually aroused by death, rape, and torture. We've been trying to rehabilitate these types of bad guys for decades, and they just can't be fixed. These types of bad guys are not part of humanity. They are animals. I support putting them down, but I have softened my position some and would be OK locking them away forever.

[_Buffalo]

This is pretty much my only black and white issue. And yes, it's very much emotionally fueled. Not even by personal experience - I was never molested.

I'd be happy to pull the trap door on any child molester and let them swing in the breeze - if only I could be completely sure they were guilty. The world is a better place without them in it.

The interesting thing about the kinds of draconian punishments like those you propose is that the end result would be much fewer molestations reported. Most abuse is committed by family members, and verrrry few victims would be happy with their relative being killed or put in prison for life. They would hide and keep secret all but the very worst cases of abuse.

You're probably right.

[_Chap]

Stop being so complicated and Hungarian.

I can't, and don't want to. I take a pride in being Hungarian.

That youtube as an answer to some comments was kind of joke. If You didn't get it... I am sorry.
As a Hungarian, I am thinking differently. Different time zone, different environment.

Please don't forget, any comment I read will be translated online with my special seer stone (my head*...) then interpreted, and my answer should be translated back. Triple chance to err.

You need to .... what's that phrase 'grow a pair'. Yup. that's it.

I should use too many times the Urban Dictionary.
It says "Urban Dictionary is the dictionary you wrote. Define your world"
1. I didn't write it
2. It is not my world

In this special case, after reading the 'grow a pair' entry, I understand all Your words - Your whole sentence was remained undecoded.


*I've read the 'stonehead' entry of Urban Dictionary.

Sorry - my message was entirely ironical. I think your intervention was extremely appropriate, and so far as I can discern the sentiments behind it, I applaud them. But sometimes your allusive modes of thought and expression may be hard for some posters to appreciate.

The injunction, sometimes heard on this board to "grow a pair", is intended to imply that the person addressed is lacking in courage or firmness, and that this may be because they do not have any testicles, leading to low testosterone levels and hence low aggression etc. They should therefore grow a pair of testicles. (Silly, isn't it?)