Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Season of bad will

While I've ran out of [good] reasons why this is the case, I still, as a matter of prejudice, oppose the death penalty. It's perhaps the shadow of utilitarianism that makes me feel like this, as when Saddam Hussein can see in his impending execution an opportunity to play the martyr:
"Saddam Hussein has vowed to go the gallows as a "martyr" ready and willing to sacrifice himself, after Iraq's highest court rejected an appeal against his death sentence."
A martyr is someone who is killed because of, solely because of, their confession of faith.

Whatever else you might think about all this, I think you'll agree Saddam Hussein doen't really qualify here.
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9 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:07 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Paul E.5:13 PM

    I know what you mean about the logic of opposing capital punishment. One of the most inexplicably powerful arguments I came across is one that doesn't work particularly well in debate.

    There is an absurdity around ceremonial state-sanctioned killing. If you ever saw Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow, you'd know what I mean.

    The hypocrisy of final meals and last rites, the little sensitivities - the way that hangmen learned to calculate weight (to measure the drop) with a handshake, and so on.

    States kill people all the time. But the level of pre-meditation in an execution means that everyone living within that State become complicit in one way or another.

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  3. James Higham7:58 PM

    He just wants to qualify for the 72 virgins.

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  4. Anonymous12:16 AM

    Well - sounds like squeamishness. I mean how many people do you have to murder before you're ripe for a good hingin'? From what you say, even the Nazis weren't ripe enough for that.

    Actually, I'm not terribly in favour of hanging either. I would rather have an unceremonious march to a wall, a last cigarette then, seeya!

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  5. Mr Eugenides12:14 PM

    He died for Palestine and Muslims everywhere, according to his last words.

    Anyway, it's not him that's the genocidal thug, it's Bushitler, Bliar, Adolf Sharon and their pupp- deleted by blog administrator.

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  6. dearieme5:23 PM

    I've paid so little attention that I don't even know what crime he was found guilty of. Can anyone enlighten me?

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  7. James Higham7:12 PM

    Hope I'm not deleted by blog administrator but have a Happy New Year, Shuggy.

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  8. Shuggy6:48 PM

    Anyway, it's not him that's the genocidal thug, it's Bushitler, Bliar, Adolf Sharon and their pupp- deleted by blog administrator.

    It wasn't this 'blog administrator' that deleted this - what's going on?

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  9. Anonymous1:03 PM

    You've "ran" out of reasons, eh?

    Just trying to provoke me, aren't you?

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