XPost: alt.religion.christian, alt.religion.christian-teen, alt.   
   eligion.christian.adventist   
   XPost: alt.religion.christian.baptist   
   From: Rafael_Leyre@yahoo.com   
      
   saul_sabia@yahoo.com (Saul_Sabia) wrote in message news:<262c34a   
   .0406271736.67561e83@posting.google.com>...   
   > Rafael_Leyre@yahoo.com (Rafael Leyre) wrote in message news:...   
   > > saul_sabia@yahoo.com (Saul_Sabia) wrote in message news:<262   
   34a5.0406200148.3f8d2f5f@posting.google.com>...   
   > >   
   > > > physical punishment is necessary. i firmly believe in the death penalty,   
   > > > for instance. some people just do not want to change into that beautiful   
   > > > snowflake that they could be. if you choose to be a killer or rapist,   
   > > > then you deserve to die.   
   > >   
   > > I admit that I also am tempted when I think of some specific   
   > > criminals. But the issue is that once the principle is accepted, you   
   > > can not control anymore if the principle will become a pretext for   
   > > cold blooded murder by fanatics, dictators etc...   
   >   
   > ? how do you draw this conclusion?   
   >   
   Laws exist also within dictatorships. Imagine a dictator having a law   
   passed that everyone who criticizes the regime commits the crime of   
   high treason, and deserves capital punishment. This is no fantasy. It   
   happened many times during the twentieth century, within regimes at   
   the left and at the right, and among friends of the West as well as   
   among its enemies.   
      
   Now imagine an oppositon group from the same country forming a   
   'government in exile'. This government will necessarily regard itself   
   more legitime than the dictator in power, and will feel no restraint   
   to handel its enemies the same way they are treated by the justitional   
   institute of the dictatorship. They will find an excuse to shoot or   
   bomb in the streets whoever they decide. This also happens repeatedly.   
      
   The other party always delivers the excuse. Do we want to give an   
   excuse to our opponents? Of course we can say that our government is   
   legitimate and can kill convicted people, but chances are high that we   
   give excuses to less careful regimes (possibly without foundation, but   
   that doesn't help much).   
      
   It's like torture. It is well possible to imagine a situation in which   
   torture of a villain by a righteous governement is the best option   
   available (for example if its a terrorist who knows where a biological   
   bomb is hidden). But if we ever leave the basic position that torture   
   is definely unacceptable, we open the gate to the worst medieval   
   practices (which already seep through everyday!).   
      
   Rafael Leyre   
   http://www.essayvtm.netfirms.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)