The death penalty question

Recently I was asked to comment on whether I am for the death penalty or against it. For a second this question threw me for a loop because I have never really considered what my standpoint is on this issue. 

The death penalty is normally reserved for your more heinous crimes and I've heard arguments for and against it. I'm very aware that in some circles "thou shall not kill" and "an eye for an eye" are used for and against it interchangeably. The families of the victims of these crimes are even brought in when these arguments are made. I for one know that killing the man who killed my brother would mean nothing to my family. It wouldn't give us any closure because we each achieved that on our own, independent of the perpetrator. 

In our case we knew who he was, he was not arrested for it and lived five houses away from us. My parents had to face seeing him walking in our street, daily! They had to live with the possibility of bumping into him around the neighbourhood. This traumatised my mother so much that our entire family was uprooted and moved. We left our house, our friends, our neighbours and the neighbourhood we loved because of one person and his single brutal act.

I did not get to witness most of this as I had already left the nest. But after the brutal murder of my brother, I had always wondered how I would react to seeing his killer face to face. Well, I got my chance but by then I had already had my closure. All I saw was someone to feel sorry for cause I could see that his life was defined by what he had done. He was living under the shadow of it and he was not a pretty sight.

Families of victims don't sit around reveling in the misfortunes of the perpetrators. We don't live our lives, day to day, waiting for the next worst thing to happen to them. Actually they cease to be an issue for us because we choose to remember our loved ones. We remember them not in that final moment that took their breath away but in a lifetime of moments with them that took our breath away.

Therefore I stand against the death penalty not only because of my own personal experiences but because I believe that people can be redeemed. I believe that the natural disposition of every human is towards goodness and kindness regardless of how deep it might be buried sometimes all it takes to let it through is the right kind of shovel.

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