[B5JMS] Attn jms: The moral obligation

[b5jms at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: The Nuclear Marine <Nuke-Marine at cox.net>
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 02:34:48 +0000 (UTC)
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[posted and mailed]

Ok, here's a very tough question.  At what point is the taking of life 
justified by a societal organization?  

In B5, only military acts such as attempting or killing one's superior 
officer merited outright death by spacing.  Most other cases were shown to 
be punishment by mindwipe.  That both essentially kill the offender would 
be an argument.

My question would deal with today's time.  At what point would the killing 
of an individual be warrented?  A difficult question with many variances.  
Even Thomas Jefferson thought that the inerrancy of man must be overcome 
before the government could nobly end a man's life.  

Not an easy question, but then what important question is?

Nuke



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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 03:19:24 +0000 (UTC)
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>My question would deal with today's time.  At what point would the killing 
>of an individual be warrented? 

The first answer, and the easy answer, is: in self-defense, in one's home or in
wartime.

The less easy answer comes when you get into the legal system.  Where does
justice end and vengeance begin?

I think that when you knowingly and deliberately take someone's life, you
forfeit your own.  But for me, that means life without the possibility of
parole as a better option than the death penalty.  (This is a position that's
taken me a while to get to, to be honest.)  

The death penalty and life without parole both are deterrents in that they
permanently remove the offender from society, and I think life in prison is a
far worse fate than a quick death.  The difference is that life without parole
allows for the possibility of correcting the few errors that get through, where
the death penalty does not.

The idea of taking someone's life, with malice aforethought (I'm not talkling
about accidental manslaughter or the like) and getting out in five to ten years
is abhorrent.

But that's just me.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
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