Comments on Gen-X Rising: Thoughts on Capital Punishment

Andrew,I think the notion of the guillotine is a g...

2007-03-31T19:43:00.000-04:00

Andrew,
I think the notion of the guillotine is a good one. I think the american public has become easily apathetic to the seeming anesthetic/sterile way of lethal injection. I know it seems unrelated, but much like not having to kill the meat we eat, we have become desensitized to what/how/how much we eat, just like we don't have to confront the realities of the murder we commit in

I support capital punishment and I do not care if ...

2007-01-18T18:30:00.000-05:00

I support capital punishment and I do not care if the convicted criminal suffers since his suffering may keep a child or other innocent victim from being killed by some other demon out there. We simply must not be shallow in our theology on this issue. I see our duty as being to the protection of the innocent, not the guilty demons moving freely among us killing, maming, and terrorizing. The

Thanks for the comments. And along the same line...

2007-01-05T03:17:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the comments.

And along the same lines, in my contact with 'restorative justice' (which came via Harmon Wray in Nashville), I found that a lot of it had to do with changing popular perceptions of what 'justice' should mean in the criminal justice system. No one wants to see the victims of crime go unvindicated, obviously. But when people are introduced to the notion of

hey stresspenguin, Thanks for the insight. My fr...

2007-01-05T01:00:00.000-05:00

hey stresspenguin,

Thanks for the insight. My friend with Restorative Justice is definitely interested in something other than the same ole French (or are they "freedom"?) fries when he talks about "smart on crime." But, as with all language, a better phrase can simply end up a rhetorical Trojan horse in the hands of the "wrong" person/group.

gmw: In my criminology studies, we actually studi...

2007-01-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

gmw: In my criminology studies, we actually studied the politics of crime legislation. There has been a steady shift over the last two decades from being "tough on crime" to being "smart on crime." It is not so much about changing tactics, but changing perceptions. You can effectively re-brand your same old crime control rhetoric. Regardless of whether McDonald's loves to see you smile" or

Thanks for the good post, Andrew. Not long ago I w...

2007-01-03T16:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the good post, Andrew. Not long ago I was sitting in a meeting that included a report from our annual conference's chair of Restorative Justice ministry. He said that politicians like rhetoric of being "tough on crime" when being "smart on crime" would be far better. Go figure, huh?

Well said, Andrew. And this is timely, because of...

2007-01-02T22:36:00.000-05:00

Well said, Andrew. And this is timely, because of the Saddam Hussein execution--a gruesome event if ever there was one. I think it's pretty awful that we Americans probably had a hand in that (and it was on American property). It was more like revenge than justice.