8/13/2019 a man in floria
1/2
Headlines are being made about the suffering possibly endured by
convicted murderer
Dennis McGuire, who was put to death with a new and previously
untried method by the
state of Ohio on Jan. 1 as punishment for his !illing of a
pregnant woman years earlier.
"he state used a chemical in#ection never before utili$ed to put
someone to death,
despite warnings from some medical e%perts who said that the
process might produce
what was called &air starvation.&
'() 'ews *uoted an +ssociated ress reporter who witnessed the
e%ecution who wrote
that McGuire, -, &appeared to gasp several times and made
several loud snorting or
snoring sounds during a /prolonged/ e%ecution,& which
several news agencies said too!
nearly 0 minutes from start to finish. Other witnesses said that
Mr. McGuire also
clenched his fists repeatedly, and tried in vain to raise
himself up from the table to which
he was strapped, apparently gasping for air.
in short, it did not appear to be a peaceful death leaving many
to as!2 3s paying with
his life enough of a punishment for someone sentenced to death
for a !illing...or is it
acceptable for that punishment to include ab#ect endoflife
suffering and agony for
nearly a half hour4
5et the main *uestion has been avoided through all the news
stories and commentaries
on this particular event2 3s the death penalty itself
appropriate in an enlighted society4
Our answer is no. "o paraphrase +lbert 6instein, we are not
going to solve society/s
problems using the same energy that created them. 7e will not
put an end to violence
by using violence, an end to anger with anger, and an end to
!iling with more !illing.
+ll we as a people are saying is that !illing is perfectly o!ay
when we beileve that &right/
is on our side. (ut of course with e%ceptions for those who are
mentally incapacitated
all people and all governments thin!s &right& is on
their side when they !ill, or they
wouldn/t and couldn/t do it.
"he central *uestion then becomes2 3s it ever &right& to
!ill people if one/s own life 8or the
life of others9 is not in immediate danger4
8/13/2019 a man in floria
2/2
+ man in :lorida, a former police captain, pulled out a gun and
!illed another man with
whom he was having an argument over te%ting in a movie theatre
because the other
man threw a bo% of popcorn at him, and the former police officer
said he thought the
other man was going to attac! him. 87hy he didn/t simply pull
out the gun and say, &'ot
one step further, brother....&, rather than shoot the man
point blan! in the chest from four
feet away is not clear.9 ;o now, once again in :lorida, we are
going to have a chance tosee if that state/s ;tand 5our Ground law
is going to be applied to #ustify !illing someone.
