Learning the Value of a Human Life

Learning the Value of a Human Life

Humanity is identifying with someone else's pain

~Joan Chittister~

I just finished reading John Grisham's The Confession, a novel about a capital murder case in Texas. The majority of civilized countries have discontinued the death penalty. We have the unusual arrangement of leaving the decision to individual states.

I understand the feelings of families whose loved ones are murdered. My first reaction would be one of revenge as well. The bible even seems to justify capital punishment. Yet the bible was written thousands of years ago. Later in the bible, Jesus said in response to a question about killing a prostitute, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." We have progressed to a somewhat more humane approach to dealing with each other even when serious crime is involved, at least in our saner moments.

If we follow the biblical response of an eye for an eye, killing a person who kills someone else is perfectly justifiable. Following this mode of thinking, it would be okay to steal from a thief, to beat up someone guilty of assault or to embezzle money from an embezzler. The last three don't make much sense to us, although to many states, and a few other countries, execution still does.

We say we want justice. What we really mean is that we want to punish those who do not do what we expect them to do. If we are really interested in public safety, we are on the wrong track. Long ago we learned that punishment does not make people do what is expected. In fact, it leads to more criminal behavior.

What might we do instead? Three possibilities come to mind. The first is to understand why people engage in crime. As an example, can you think of one attempt to understand the mind of a sexually abusive priest? This is not a new problem, yet little is generally known about those who act this way or why.

A second possibility is to try understanding what goes on in criminals' environments inclining them to act in a criminal way. There have been scientific studies of this issue, but they have not seemed to come into the awareness of those involved in administering the criminal justice system.

The third possibility is to discover what would work to change criminal behavior. We have made strides toward alternative approaches to dealing with criminals such as restitution to their victims and their families, having them hear what their victims have to say and helping convicts learn better ways to live their lives.

Yet, for the most part we still have a criminal punishment system, meting out justice in the form of incarceration, fines or in extreme cases, forfeit of life. Capital punishment prevents the criminal from killing again. Yet there is no clear evidence that countries with capital punishment have lower murder rates. If anything it is just the opposite. There is also the chance of executing the wrong person.

Life lab Lessons

How do you feel about the death penalty?

How would you feel if someone you knew was murdered?

How would you feel if the perpetrator was a relative of yours?

What could our society and its criminal justice system do differently?

Consider how you can learn to treat others with more respect?

Joseph G. Langen is the author of 5 eBooks, Commonsense Wisdom for Everyday Life, Young Man of the Cloth, Navigating Life, The Pastor's Inferno and Release Your Stress and Reclaim Your Life. See more about his writing at http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-G.-Langen/e/B008TWW8M4/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Contact him at: jglangen@gmail.com

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