Ethics (Religion)

by dhw, Monday, October 06, 2008, 15:29 (5687 days ago) @ Carl

In the context of my opposition to capital punishment, I wrote that in my view "society's aim should be self-protection (with as much help as possible given to the families of the victims)." I expressed my dislike of the term "revenge". - Carl wrote: "Imagine if your child had been killed by a drunk driver: If your attitude was simply that it was important to get the offender into rehab, you would be truly "turning the other cheek". You would probably want to see some punishment." And later: "Any adequate justice system must recognize the human urge for vengeance and make some effort to satisfy it. Otherwise, society members will go back to seeking their own vengeance. Humans are not yet ready to view all criminals as simple mental health cases that need treatment." - Not guilty, m'lud! I have never once mentioned rehab, anything that could be remotely interpreted as 'turning the other cheek', mental health, or indeed how prisoners should be treated. All I said was that I was against capital punishment because I am against all unnecessary violence, and I think state-sponsored violence sets a bad example to society. I therefore want to see murderers imprisoned for life, but not executed. What should be done with them is an entirely different subject. - As for "revenge", you are right that it is a human urge, and much of our legal system is actually devoted, for the good of society, to controlling human urges. I'd say "justice" is a better and less emotive term for what we're after. But so long as you confine the vengeance concept to satisfying the psychological needs of the survivors (as opposed to making it a social and legal objective), I think we can bury this little hatchet.