Random Thoughts, Notes, & Incidents

Remember my rant the other day about the court decision on the Pledge of Allegiance? How I thought there were other things far more worth getting excited about? Well here's a court decision to get excited about:

Judge Finds Federal Executions Unconstitutional (Yahoo! News)

The story begins, A U.S. trial judge on Monday declared the federal death penalty unconstitutional, calling it tantamount to "state-sponsored murder of innocent human beings."

I am extremely pleased and excited about this decision, and have agreed with the above quote for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, I don't think this decision will hold up, but it's an important part step in the fight to end these ritual killings.

Yes, I said "ritual killings." We, as a society, are scared. We fear what we can't control, and the possibility of murder - of ourselves, of our families - is high on the list. There's absolutely no proof that the death penalty prevents crime, and plenty of proof that it has been applied unevenly and unfairly, yet people gather outside prisons to cheer on the final moments of a condemned convict's life. Why? It's a human sacrifice.

The activity surrounding most executions is no different than a ritual sacrifice, like throwing virgins into the volcano, to appease some higher power and hopefully gain some protection from the great unknown. Guess what? It doesn't work.

You can't educate young people that murder is no way to solve your problems by murdering more people, no matter what they've done. The sacrifices have got to stop, and this ruling is another major step along the way.