The morally emasculated: Death for Death Penalty Opponents

[wjhii]

**The morally emasculated: Death for Death Penalty Opponents.
**
by N. Beaujon
April 26, 2005

Yesterday, rapist and murderer Bill Benefiel, 48, was put to death in Indiana by lethal injection. Benefiel was convicted of kidnapping and raping two teenage girls one of whom he held captive for 12 days before her murder. The second escaped after being, raped and tortured for 4 months. She lived to testify against him.

As reported by Ireland on-line, about 25 protesters gathered outside the prison for the requisite candlelight vigil and march. “Our hope is to bring awareness to the atrocities of executions,” said the Reverend Tom Mischler of St Mary of the Lake in Gary, Indiana. This author hopes to bring awareness to the lily-livered eunuchs who oppose the death penalty and make all of our lives miserable.

What is wrong with these people? How do you explain these professional hand-wringers who are so separated from their species being that they can’t muster the natural human empathy and outrage reserved for the victims of heinous crimes? Instead, they pine for the “humanity” of the perpetrator. You have to wonder if they’re as sociopathic as those they sulk away at their “candlelight vigils” to save. Who among us after hearing of such an outrage turns their attention and empathy to the monster who created it? The answer: The quintessentially morally and emotionally emasculated. To feel no outrage and only compassion for the murderer is not an act of compassion, it’s a sign of moral malady.

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(The remainder of this article can be read at nbeaujon.com/deathpenalty.htm )

 

[Scott_Waddell]

“Our hope is to bring awareness to the atrocities of executions,”

I am slowly converting over to opposing the death penalty, but statements like this annoy me. The fact is that this guy deserved every bit of his punishment. The anti-death penalty lobby would go much further if they acknowledged that and then, and only then, suggest non-lethal punishments that still both serve justice and concretely protect society.

Scott

 

[legeorge]

Obviously, this author has never met Christ! Let alone read the Bible! Hence, he has no authority to judge someone’s morals. While I do not think that candlelight vigils are necessary, per se, because it can be perceived as calloused against the victims, I see no reason to throw stones at people calling attention to the dignity of human life without discrimination. People talk this way about abortion protesters too. It’s like water off a duck’s back.

 

[deb1]

I have mixed feelings about the death penalty. For the most part the possiblity that innocent people could be executed makes me against it. WHen I hear about victims being tortured or children being suffucated to death(as in the case of Jessica Lunds) I get really angry. Child rapist and serial killers deserve to die or at least be condemned to some Devil’s Island situation where they would have to hard labor for the remainder of their lives.

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

legeorge:

Obviously, this author has never met Christ! Let alone read the Bible! Hence, he has no authority to judge someone’s morals. While I do not think that candlelight vigils are necessary, per se, because it can be perceived as calloused against the victims, I see no reason to throw stones at people calling attention to the dignity of human life without discrimination. People talk this way about abortion protesters too. It’s like water off a duck’s back.

You do realize that most violent crime in this country, and nearly all sexual crime against children is committed by repeat offenders. Capital punishment is the ultimate rehab. Noone who is executed ever repeats their pattern of behavior.

 

[Lisa_N]

FWIW there were people protesting TED BUNDY’s execution. Now even being opposed to the death penalty, since he was one of the NW’s proud tradition of serial killers, and a particularly cruel individual, I hardly think it’s appropriate to mourn his passing with a candlelight vigil.

Working toward abolishing the death penalty is better done in the light of day and NOT associated with perceived sympathy to a heinous crime. When someone stands around singing Kum Bay Ya it appears they sympathize with the killer not the victim.

Do ya think that creep who killed the little girl in Florida will be mourned in the similar fashion? I bet HE gets the death penalty. I mean if Florida’s courts think an innocent disabled woman deserves to die, why not a child rapist/murder? There is something wrong with the whole picture.

Lisa N

 

[legeorge]

Scott_Lafrance:

You do realize that most violent crime in this country, and nearly all sexual crime against children is committed by repeat offenders. Capital punishment is the ultimate rehab. Noone who is executed ever repeats their pattern of behavior.

And in such a technically advanced society as ours, do you see any reason why we should not just keep these people locked up for life, make them earn their keep, work hard, and perhaps have the opportunity to repent of their crimes? I think hardened criminals should be punished, and kept where they cannot harm anyone else, but I’m not convinced that killing them is the ultimate solution. Maybe in extremely rare cases. But I think that making these types of criminals work hard for their living while incarcerated would be a good thing. Why should they get cable t.v., weight rooms, computers, etc.? That’s ok for minimum security, but not maximum. They should have to grow their own food, cook, clean, make their clothes, and work for their keep. That would help keep the financial burden of life imprisonment off the taxpayers and maybe be a good deterrant to criminals.

 

[legeorge]

Lisa N:

FWIW there were people protesting TED BUNDY’s execution. Now even being opposed to the death penalty, since he was one of the NW’s proud tradition of serial killers, and a particularly cruel individual, I hardly think it’s appropriate to mourn his passing with a candlelight vigil.

Working toward abolishing the death penalty is better done in the light of day and NOT associated with perceived sympathy to a heinous crime. When someone stands around singing Kum Bay Ya it appears they sympathize with the killer not the victim.

Do ya think that creep who killed the little girl in Florida will be mourned in the similar fashion? I bet HE gets the death penalty. I mean if Florida’s courts think an innocent disabled woman deserves to die, why not a child rapist/murder? There is something wrong with the whole picture.

Lisa N

I think you are absolutely correct. I would never attend a candlelight vigil for a serial killer. But I’m not a big proponent of the people who want to poke fun at those who do, either. Like the author of this article does. I think the article is mean-spirited.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

This says it all for me.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2267 Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.”

As everyone can see for themselves, this is a position that faithful Catholics can be on either side of.

You will notice that I have not said which side I fall on.

 

[Isidore_AK]

deb1:

I have mixed feelings about the death penalty. For the most part the possiblity that innocent people could be executed makes me against it. WHen I hear about victims being tortured or children being suffucated to death(as in the case of Jessica Lunds) I get really angry. Child rapist and serial killers deserve to die or at least be condemned to some Devil’s Island situation where they would have to hard labor for the remainder of their lives.

I’m personally an advocate for a 12lb sledge to the knees, followed by being dropped off somewhere in the Aleutian islands. ESPECIALLY for child rapists.

Why don’t the ‘bleeding heart liberals’ want to fight the evil? My heart doesn’t bleed for those that are justly executed (and the vast majority of executions ARE just), it bleeds for the victims. Every time I see another news story about some poor child thats been kidnapped, raped, then murdered…I just want to cry. :crying:

I want them dead! No more children should pay for our leniency!
Excuse me for being blunt, but we should run all of the convicted sex offenders out of our neighborhoods. I’m so sick of this!

 

[LoneRanger]

ByzCath:

This says it all for me.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2267 Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.”

As everyone can see for themselves, this is a position that faithful Catholics can be on either side of.

You will notice that I have not said which side I fall on.

lock them in a cell, and throw away the key… let them ponder their sin, and who knows… Gods power may save, it will surely be the rightful judge, and dealer of justice…

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

LoneRanger:

lock them in a cell, and throw away the key… let them ponder their sin, and who knows… Gods power may save, it will surely be the rightful judge, and dealer of justice…

That would work, if our legal system allowed it but it does not.

The isolation you speak of is look upon as cruel and unusual punishment. We also have a set of laws that govern sentencing, so some murderers may get out to kill again and then there is the safety of other inmates within the prison system.

This is a complex issue and, as the Catechism states, “the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.””

I think this sentence goes with the one you chose to bold. As it says, the cases where it is necessary are very rare, if not practically non-existent. It doesn’t say that there are absolutely no cases where this form of punishment is unwarranted.

So again, faithful Catholics can fall on both sides of this issue.

 

[animalluvr77]

LoneRanger:

lock them in a cell, and throw away the key… let them ponder their sin, and who knows… Gods power may save, it will surely be the rightful judge, and dealer of justice…

Exactly, Thank You! I don’t think that people realize that maybe the most liberals are not crying their hearts out for these people who have committed these crimes! We just don’t think that it is our place to judge anothers soul and take their life! Maybe in one place in time the death penalty was needed! But I believe that we can do things with these people without taking their lives to punish them for the rest of their lives without them ever getting out on the streets (if however they are really guilty)!

 

[vern_humphrey]

legeorge:

And in such a technically advanced society as ours, do you see any reason why we should not just keep these people locked up for life, make them earn their keep, work hard, and perhaps have the opportunity to repent of their crimes? I think hardened criminals should be punished, and kept where they cannot harm anyone else, but I’m not convinced that killing them is the ultimate solution. Maybe in extremely rare cases. But I think that making these types of criminals work hard for their living while incarcerated would be a good thing. Why should they get cable t.v., weight rooms, computers, etc.? That’s ok for minimum security, but not maximum. They should have to grow their own food, cook, clean, make their clothes, and work for their keep. That would help keep the financial burden of life imprisonment off the taxpayers and maybe be a good deterrant to criminals.

Those who talk about keeping criminals “locked up for life” ought to study the case of Tommy Silverstein. The account below was written in 2001.

---

Thomas Silverstein is often described by the authorities as America’s most dangerous prisoner.

In the six years after he was jailed for armed robbery in 1977 he killed two fellow inmates - and stabbed to death prison guard Merle Clutts. He was cleared of a fourth murder.

At the time, the murder of a federal prison guard was not a capital offence and Silverstein was sentenced to life in jail - the maximum term available.

After the murder of Mr Clutts, in Marion penitentiary in Illinois, he was placed on “no human contact” status.

Silverstein, now 49, spends his days in a specially-designed cell deep in the bowels of Leavenworth federal penitentiary in Kansas.

The lights are allegedly kept on 24 hours a day for security reasons.

Guards refuse to talk to “Terrible Tom” out of respect for Mr Clutts.

At the time of Mr Clutts’ death, Silverstein was one of the leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood (AB), the most powerful white gang in the US prison system.

Silverstein has always claimed Mr Clutts had been persecuting him but the prison authorities said he should have raised his grievances through the proper channels.

At Marion he was held in his cell for 23 hours a day but he took his one opportunity to kill the guard.

As he returned, handcuffed, from the shower block Silverstein walked over to chat to an AB friend, Randy Gometz.

Gometz suddenly produced a stolen key and unlocked Silverstein’s cuffs.

Silverstein leaned through the bars and pulled a shank (improvised knife) from Gometz’s waistband before stabbing Mr Clutts 20 times.

After the murder he was moved to a special cell in Atlanta, Georgia, but was freed by a gang of Cubans during a riot in 1987. He was recaptured - traded in by the Cubans - and moved to Leavenworth.

For the past 14 years he has been kept in a special cell at Leavenworth, one of America’s toughest jails.

---

Silverstein committed THREE murders AFTER he was sent to prison!!

What do we do with people like Silverstein – when we give them life without parole and they kill again?

Let me offer the opponents of the Death Penalty a challenge – Silverstein needs someone to bring him his meals, see that he is bathed, gets his hair cut, and so on. And he spends his whole day exercising in his cell, and thinking about how he will kill the NEXT guard. How about volunteering to take care of Tommy – so other people don’t have to put their lives at risk?

 

[ansel123]

The death penalty is not an issue Catholics can be on either side on. The CCC as well as EV and articles written by Cardinal Schoenborn (the director of the CCC) demonstrate that as practiced in the United States, the death penalty is morally wrong.

The CCC leaves open the theoretical possibility of the state carrying out a capital sentence. But the burden is on the state to show that there is no alternative. This analysis is not currently part of individual captial sentencing. Thus, as it stands, Catholics must be against the death penalty in the United States.

Catholics do not have to support a blanket ban on the death penalty, but as the CCC and I think EV state, the circumstances for imposing the death penalty approach non-existent. The right of the state to impose the death penalty is not absolute and as Catholics, we must fight to insure that life is respected and the state follows the severe restrictions set forth in the Church’s teachings.

Pro-life means pro-life across the board.

 

[vern_humphrey]

ansel123:

The death penalty is not an issue Catholics can be on either side on. The CCC as well as EV and articles written by Cardinal Schoenborn (the director of the CCC) demonstrate that as practiced in the United States, the death penalty is morally wrong.

The CCC leaves open the theoretical possibility of the state carrying out a capital sentence. But the burden is on the state to show that there is no alternative. This analysis is not currently part of individual captial sentencing. Thus, as it stands, Catholics must be against the death penalty in the United States.

Catholics do not have to support a blanket ban on the death penalty, but as the CCC and I think EV state, the circumstances for imposing the death penalty approach non-existent. The right of the state to impose the death penalty is not absolute and as Catholics, we must fight to insure that life is respected and the state follows the severe restrictions set forth in the Church’s teachings.

Pro-life means pro-life across the board.

Show you are pro-life across the board by volunteering to guard Tommy Silverstein.

 

[ansel123]

vern humphrey:

Show you are pro-life across the board by volunteering to guard Tommy Silverstein.

I am not sure your challenge gets us anywhere as I am not a trained corrections officer. I would be willing to vote for more resources for corrections officers. EDIT: I respect corrections officers, just like I respect the police and our military. These groups put alot on the line and they are aware they put alot on the line. I don’t think your charge for volunteers shows these groups enough respect.

While your example of Silverstein is thought-provoking, it raises a separate issue. Violence in prison will exist regardless of the presence of captial offenders in prison. Silverstein killed two inmates as a non-capital offfender. You certainly could not have imposed the death penalty for armed robbery to insure that he could not have killed them.

My point is that violence in prison can be treated as a separate problem. Prison reform should be a significiant issue for all Catholics. Unfortunately, the American public doesn’t want to spend the money necessary to give prisons and guards the resources they need because once a prisoner is convicted, they disappear from the public eye. This is compounded by the NIMBY phenomenon, where it becomes hard to build more adequate facilities because local residents don’t want prisons around.

Again, pro-life means pro-life across the board. We cannot pick and choose which Church teachings to follow based on our personal feelings about the underlying issue.

 

[aimee]

vern humphrey:

Show you are pro-life across the board by volunteering to guard Tommy Silverstein.

Come on now…DOC would never let them do that…

I am against the death penalty also…and Believe me I am no liberal. I have been in prison ministry for some time now and have seen some changes you would n’t believe…
Do some desearve the death penalty…yes. but …I vote no…its a difficult position …one I’ve come too.

 

[vern_humphrey]

ansel123:

I am not sure your challenge gets us anywhere as I am not a trained corrections officer…

Then TAKE the training – when you volunteer, it will be provided by the Bureau of Prisons, free of charge.

ansel123:

While your example of Silverstein is thought-provoking, it raises a separate issue. Violence in prison will exist regardless of the presence of captial offenders in prison. Silverstein killed two inmates as a non-capital offfender. You certainly could not have imposed the death penalty for armed robbery to insure that he could not have killed them. …

Did you miss the point that he killed THREE people – in THREE separate incidents? And each time he got a life sentence without parole?

And for some strange reason, after receiving two sentences of life without parole for two separate murders, he was not deterred from killing Merle Clutts!

ansel123:

My point is that violence in prison can be treated as a separate problem. Prison reform should be a significiant issue for all Catholics. Unfortunately, the American public doesn’t want to spend the money necessary to give prisons and guards the resources they need because once a prisoner is convicted, they disappear from the public eye. This is compounded by the NIMBY phenomenon, where it becomes hard to build more adequate facilities because local residents don’t want prisons around…

You could help solve this problem by volunteering to guard prisoners like Tommy Sliverstein.

ansel123:

Again, pro-life means pro-life across the board. You don’t get to pick and choose which Church teachings you should follow based on your personal feelings about the underlying issue.

Church teachings are one thing, your teachings are another. I have shown how dangerous inmates can be – and how corrections officials place their lives on the line guarding these people.

I challenge you to step in and replace them in that dangerous job.

 

[coralewisjr]

The story of Tommy Silverstein gives me the shivers!

I’m against the death penalty in the US. I sincerely hope that none of my children (or my husband) ever meet a serial killer or rapist. Prisoners definitely need our prayers! I think prayers are more effective than chaplain visits (do prisons have chaplains? are priests allowed to visit prisonders?) to extremely violent prisoners like Tommy - if I were a priest, I wouldn’t want to go near that man!!

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne