| Kantor said: People do those kinds of things on the internet. You shouldn't take it to heart. Good person + anonymity = vitriol. None of the people posting on blogs advocating for violent revolution are actually going to go out there and do it. They're frustrated, and they feel the need to complain and nothing more. I'm really on the fence about the death penalty. Most people don't end up changing, but if they do, then you'll have killed somebody who would go on to be an honest citizen. On top of that, there is the awful risk of killing an innocent man or woman, and the enormous expense involved. I would agree with you that government is ineffective. However, I would have to disagree with this concept of retribution that you seem to be promoting. You don't know the motivations of people who say and do these things, and you don't know the full story. Neither does anyone else. A jury and judge know more than most people, so if anyone needs to make a decision, it's them. As for this idea that evil people will somehow be automatically punished by the universe through some sort of karma system, that really doesn't hold any water. Mugabe is still alive well into his seventies, and affluent and powerful as ever. Kennedy tried to make a positive difference and didn't even make it to 50. Isn't it one of the core tenets of Christianity that even God doesn't judge a man until the end of his days? I suppose he does the exact opposite many times in the Bible, but you can't really hope for complete logical consistency, just some sort of general conclusion. And that's what I was saying: you're advocating a death penalty for a group of children who made an old woman cry. Yes, their behaviour was despicable. Yes, they should be punished. I don't, however, think that they are necessarily bad people, and no, they do not deserve to be mauled to death by a bear. I can think of many people far more deserving of that fate. |
I am of the belief that what people do in secret is a real measure of what is on their heart, and a true measure of their intentions. If you want to test a person's character, put them under duress. If you want to see what shape of the world they want, give them wealth an power. If you want to see what their true intentions and motives are, put them behind a mask. And I say this about the mask, because no one told them to do it. They weren't under the compulsion of anything. They didn't have to say it. But they do say it, free of any negative fall out from things. In their freedom, they act and express. That is who they really are. The person in question who said I should die to his taxes would be lower, also spoke a bunch of stuff regarding Obama with a bunch of racists overtones to. If it was all a joke, then the person in question has some really deprived sense of humor.
Also, please understand the nuances in what I am saying. I am of the belief that a person who shows mercy and compassion, should be cut more slack than those who don't. Individuals who call for no mercy and compassion, if you understand what I am saying, would suitable be fit for coming under much harsher standards. I say this as in, if the world work the way would be more preferable, this would happen. And it is a case, if individuals act without mercy and compassion, they if what happened with the bear happened, so be it. In this, the world functions as they want it to be, and so be it. What I also say is in keeping with what the New Testament says. I am to practice mercy and compassion, if I am to expect any. I would also say that consequences don't necessarily happen until the end of days. I am of the belief that a lack of consequences before the end of days, and a Christianity that holds to such as being such, is a weak one. It is ineffective and fairly useless. It is a faith without any works.
And I am advocating no death penalty here, just if such happened, so be it. And it doesn't exclude others either from what I am saying. And it isn't retribution either. It is just there are sometimes consequences, that if someone is spared, would be more in keeping with mercy and compassion, than anything else.
