A fetus is a baby, just as a baby is a child, a child is an adult and a caterpillar is a butterfly. Time is not something which can be reclaimed and time is the only difference. Ending a life is ending a life period.
Hypothetical situation. Would you put to death someone who was killing children? If yes then you should support the death penalty for anyone who performs, assists in, seeks out or has an abortion. Because these people are killing our children every single day. I remember a story one time, it was science fiction. In this society a true eye, for an eye law prevailed. In the case of murder, a person was made to give up their own child or to reproduce a child. They were expected to raise that child to the age of the person they had murdered and then forced to watch as the family of the replacement did exactly to that child what was done to theirs. At that point the debt was considered repaid. It's over the top I know, but it does inform my thinking on these matters. This line of thinking has lead me to the stance that I don't support the death penalty at all under any circumstances. This is because I don't believe that anyone has the right to end life. I also do not support violence or the use of force against another being. Once a life has been ended, taking another life does not balance the equation. It has also lead me to other rather obvious conclusions. Prison and Jail do not work as punishment, I say this because of recidivism rates and the fact that what is supposedly the land of the free has the highest percentage of it's population incarcerated of any nation in the world. Therefore prison and jail are not appropriate punishments at least not the "defined period of confinement with 3 hots and a cot" system we have now. What has been shown to directly effect recidivism rates is appropriate counselling. Not just mental health (including addiction), but also life skills, education and work opportunities. This has the potential to return someone to society better than they left it. It also grants the opportunity for the person who is returned to society to better not just themselves but the whole of society. I believe that one can only truly "repay their debt to society" once they have been returned to said society and given the opportunity to work off that debt. Unfortunately that is a utopian vision. It requires a society that wishes to make itself perfect (according to my own personal definition of perfect). There just aren't enough people in the world who care about this or believe the same way to bring anything like this about. Instead of seeking after "perfection", I have opted to pursue "better". On Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 5:31 PM, Joshua Fenio <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 5:26 PM, Lonnie Olson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I agree, but I thought only dirty, tree-hugging hippies like me > > thought that way. :) > > > I can confirm that Lonnie is a dirty, tree-hugging hippie, but for some > reason I still respect and like the guy. > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ > /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
