Mercy Takes Many Forms

I think, overall, the preconceived difference of mercifulness between the two political parties is that Democrats have it and Republicans don’t. We’re the ruthless ones, only looking out for Number One, and pretending we can’t see the street urchins’ pain below us as we climb the ladder of success. I was subconsciously aware of this stereotype already, but I came face to face with it a few nights ago in the dining hall.

Our conversation had drifted somehow to the subject of court cases, the famous innocent-even-though- he’s-totally-guilty verdicts, the most heinous crimes ever committed, and some of the most ridiculous sentencing we’d ever heard of. One person brought up a court case that, adding up his numerous convictions, ended with a 300 year sentence for a guy. I said that was stupid. Just kill him, I said. It’s a waste of my tax money to keep a criminal alive for decades in prison before he kicks the bucket naturally, so we might as well just end it. A friend next to me freaked out at my perceived coldness, saying, “Oh my gosh, that’s like the most Republican thing ever!”

After he showed his disapproval, it turned out that all the other people at the table actually agreed with me, something that doesn’t happen very often when we’re discussing political matters. But what struck me about this one friend’s astonishment over my views on the death penalty is that, when you really think about it, my way is far more merciful than it is brutal.

On the surface, yes, killing a prisoner seems far more inhumane than letting him live. But when a man has been sentenced to three centuries of life behind bars with no hope of overturning the verdict or getting out on parole, isn’t it kinder to relieve him of all the suffering he would endure? Granted, my own reasoning for supporting the death penalty is a selfish, economic one over the distribution of my tax dollar, but it works inadvertently to help rapists and murders everywhere. If we’re aiming for the government to solve all of our problems and make everyone happy, the death penalty makes more sense, right?

Note that I do not think it is the government’s job or purpose to solve our problems and make us happy. I do, however, think that many Democrats think this way. And I’m trying to tell you that your logic may be flawed.

Don’t think that I’m saying we should kill all the criminals on their way out of the courtroom, and don’t think that I want to prematurely kill someone who may be proven innocent a month down the road. But we’re paying to sustain the lives of far too many people who have admittedly committed violent crimes or have undeniable evidence against them and are just sitting in a cell, awaiting death. People who don’t support the war say that they hate their taxes going to the military; I hate my taxes going to homicidal lowlifes. That’s why I support the death penalty. And if that doesn’t work for you, your reason can be that whole mercy paragraph.

So I say let’s get a little more liberal with death sentences.