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It's hard not to say good ridance.
Maybe it is hard not to say good ridance but it should be harder for a civilised human being to condone the death penalty.
As I said on Jordan's site the image of Saddam Hussein with a noose around his neck is as barbaric as those of the insurgents about to murder their own victims.
We are all a product of "nature and nurture" and whether we have free will or not, we must in practice be held accountable for our actions. The executioner has not succeeded in holding Hussein accountable, as Hussein has shown no remorse.
It is because I have a naturalistic world view that I understand my influences are just the same as religious folks, for there is no evidence of supernatural deities influencing either the religious or the non-religious. But let's face it there are many Christians in this town and township and they would do well to remember the following quote (whoever originally thought of it):
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also."
From the Christian text known as "Matthew's Gospel"
Quaker, the Jews of Europe turned their cheek when abused, and they were abused more. Six million of them died because they were more or less of the same opinion as you.
Most people would prefer not to put their fellow man to death, but as long as there are psycopaths among us, it is the only sure solution to putting a stop to their actions.
Yeah, I've wondered about idealism versus pragmatism in the context of that quote. While I have respect for the real Quakers, who are pacifists of course, I too have a hard time going all the way with that philosophy. In the heat of the moment when at war it seems to me that is not inapropriate for a person to defend themself. If that is all you mean, then we agree. However, in my opinion it is deeply immoral to kill another human being in cold blood, whoever that person may be. If we are no better than the other side then "we" are no more worth fighting for, or dieing for, than "them". Of course, there is no real us and them, just good values and bad values. I am no cultural relativist.
I think your analysis is wrong. There are many reasons that the people of Jewish cultural decent in Europe did not or were unable to fight back. Saddam Hussein has never had either the ambition or the proportionate military advantage of the Third Reich at the outbreak of WWII, and especially not now.
Once the battle is over you do not then execute your captives. If they are unrepentant and dangerous then you have no choice but to isolate them, but revenge (and make no bones about it, that is what it is) is not an ethical stance. I think you are mixing up a lot of different issues and trying to say that you have to take the whole package...I don't.
God chose to give man free will. Hussien's will was severely expressed, as we all know. Now the will of the courts that tried him have been expressed. What God's will is, I don't know. He has been sent on his way to The Ultimate Judge. May God have mercy on his soul. He never earned it from his fellow man.
Any nation that still condones capital punishment especially of it's former leaders in my mind is certainly not a civilized nation at all. This action certainly harkens of Iraq's continued and constant turmoil. Nothing has changed. In fact it got much worse and more volatile than before Bush invaded Iraq. The sooner western troops are out of the middle east the better off the world will be. This is my New Year's wish!
This latest BBC video I believe may just inflame the middle east even more.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/
avdb...051_16x9_nb.asx
The actual hanging was also filmed and released and can be seen on youtube under 'Video of Saddam Hussein being executed'. This editor will not post this here. The fact that these videos are multiple and easily accessible speaks again to a lack of civilization and makes one wonder what the real political aim really was and by whom to make them available especially at this new years time.
I predict that the US and the west will bear the brunt of the Muslim world's retaliation as a result of this spectacle and it may well be that Saddam's execution may have caused, if not making him a martyr, then it indeed will cause even more sectarian violence that will realize no borders as well as more hatred of the west.
And what about Bush? Should he not have to answer for all the innocent people that he has caused to be killed? Why isn't he being tried for war crimes?
He may yet Queeny.
Right here in our own country we have psycho murderers who are released and then kill again. The death penalty is not something that I like by any means, but when you stretch their necks they don't kill again. Saddam got off lightly when he was executed. He dished out much worse.
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