I just realized that I’ve had this blog open and kept it fairly active for just over a year (this includes my time wandering aimlessly in the Twitter world – Jimmy Fallon and Ellen DeGenerous tweet WAY too often!). My little login screen dashboard thing says I’ve made 51 posts. Jen wrote a couple of the blog entries, the good ones, but I’ve been responsible for the majority of them. Up until now I’ve pretty much managed not to offend anyone or say anything too controversial.

This might change that, I’d like to talk about my views on the death penalty. It’s not like I’m discussing abortion, immigration policy, Obamacare or legalized marijuana. That stuff will come later – let’s see how this goes first! My views on a lot of things have softened a little in the last eight years. I hate to admit this but my opinions on some things even have kind of a (throat clear) liberal odor to them. I’m not quite ready just yet to run out and stick a “I’m with Hillary!– 2016” sign in the front yard, let’s just say I find myself veering to the left a little more these days than I used to. However, unless the republican candidate in the next presidential election is a cross-dresser or a suspected pedophile, I’ll probably vote for him (or her)!

I recently heard on the radio that Missouri ranks third, behind Texas and Florida, on the list of states having the most executions year after year. This fact will most likely make some Missourians feel proud and righteous while at the same time, others will probably be kind of ashamed. Me? I’m somewhere down the middle. I have a stance on the death penalty – if you can call it that. I’m about 30% for it and 70% against it. (That reminds me of a joke: This country desperately needs education reform. 80% of the population agrees while the remaining 30% is OK with things the way they are.) Back to the death penalty, here are the pros and cons as I see them:

Pros –
The people that were convicted of such an evil crime, at least 99.9% of them, don’t deserve the privilege of being alive or having a place in society. I know that’s a pretty harsh sentiment but I know I would probably feel that way if the victim of that crime was one of my loved ones. If a neighbor or an acquaintance were in my shoes, I wouldn’t be feeling so strongly. Furthermore, I would know in my head that executing anyone, including a murderer, would be wrong even though my heart would make me feel differently.

Executing a killer permanently takes him off the streets and prevents him from hurting anybody else.

Cons –
(in no particular order)
I don’t think it’s our place to take a life, any life. I believe that all life, good or evil, is a gift from God and He and He alone has the right to take it back or revoke that gift. Also, I believe in karma (even though I don’t practice Hinduism!) and I think it’s God’s version of justice. We as a society should be careful not to step on His toes while He’s doling it out.

Executing someone is very expensive. I know it’s costly to warehouse a convicted murderer for the rest of his life but it can’t be more expensive than sticking him on death row where he/she spends the next twenty years appealing his conviction. Then, when he finally does get euthanized, the A.C.L.U sues the government saying the execution was inhumane.

The death penalty is supposed to deter us all from running out and killing each other, but murders happen all the time. If I ever felt like killing someone, having the death penalty hung over my head wouldn’t give me much pause because I’d know that I’d probably be in my sixties before my ticket got punched.

Occasionally (very rarely), an innocent person is executed. Even though that number is very small, it’s always one too many for me. Sure, throwing a person who was wrongly convicted in prison for the rest of his life isn’t great either, but isn’t it better than putting him to death?

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Like I said, I don’t have any skin in the game so I have the luxury and privilege to have this opinion but if I did, I bet it would be different. I need to quit typing now, my heart is starting to bleed all over my computer!