On the Death Penalty and the Intrinsic Nature of Humans

Disclaimer: This may be very boring to anyone who is not me.

I had a good talk with Andrew today as we got “coffee” from Starbucks, also known as chai and chocolate… but it was good. The question of the day for me has been Are Humans Basically Good and If They Are, How Should We Treat Criminals?

Children: Are children innocent? After babysitting today I can definitely attest that those over 3 are definitely with faults, to be expected. They can be selfish, mean, disrespectful, and in general hurtful. Are the basic components of what lies at the core of a human is consistent with those of a child? Is looking at a child like looking at a pure human? Or is it just the opposite, is a child an incomplete human, having not gone through maturity or many life experiences? Do we earn goodness as we go through life? If that is the case, can someone miss out on being good, and is it their fault?

After Death: What happens after you die? Are my beliefs of reincarnation and journey to enlightenment true? If I believe in them, does that make them true? If I believe there is no hell, does that mean that hell does not exist? Or perhaps that it doesn’t exist for me? Do my beliefs have any bearing on others? Even if my beliefs are not true, does that matter for this life, since I live as if they were anyway? If there is no death, only reincarnation until perfect understanding is reached, then is death anything to be afraid of or to be given to someone as punishment? Can death be a viable alternative to life, a good way of starting over? Is the point of living to not get it right? Why is there an innate fear of death in humans?

Purpose of Justice: In America, if a person commits a crime and is sent to jail, what are they supposed to do there? Are they learning from their mistakes and altering their mindset to what is considered healthy and normal? Are they being scared into never wanting to be sent back, therefore never wanting to *be caught* committing another crime, which does not solve the problem, only stops it from being expressed? Or are they there to wait out their days since they are unfit to be a part of society? If the purpose is to rehabilitate people, why are we scaring the ever-loving daylights out of these people? Why do we not give them kindness and help to try to discover and eliminate whatever caused them to be a criminal in the first place? (Because that costs more money? Is that money saved worth a wasted human life?)

Death Penalty: If the point is to punish someone, it seems that living in jail is more painful than death. If the point is to rehabilitate someone, then the death penalty is pointless as is spending the rest of your life in prison. If the point is to kind to them and save them from the pain of their past and allow them a fresh start (a different kind of rehabilitation) then the death penalty seems to be the best choice for me. But is it ok to impose my ideals on someone when I don’t know for sure that they are true? It doesn’t seem fair.

Conclusions: I think that humans are good, but it takes maturity to learn how to understand and express it. I think that the purpose of the justice system *should be* to rehabilitate the criminals and help them rejoin society. I think the purpose of the justice system *is* to weed out those not worthy of being in today’s society and scare those who fall prey to temptation. I don’t think I could ever wish the death penalty on someone, just as I could never force another person to live by my beliefs. I don’t think revenge is a good enough reason to punish someone. I don’t think all laws are just. I don’t think an eye for an eye, a death for a death is a good ideal for society, and I don’t believe we have moved beyond it yet. I don’t think that one pays a debt to society by living off of the peoples’ money in the prison system, squirreled away on their own. I believe that often times criminals need to make amends, but it is not done by going to prison.

Any other thoughts or conclusions are encouraged and appreciated.