Revenge V. Forgiveness

"Anger makes you smaller... while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you are." - Ms. Cathy Ngo

After I wrote about Marat the other day it kept bugging me that they had the guillotine situation as part of their “justice system”. It’s so weird that Europe, a fairly educated nation at the time, looked down on other “barbaric, heathen cultures” whose members were tattooed and pierced, and yet they deemed themselves civilized for decapitating people and burning them alive.

And how far has our society come? We’ve moved past the electric chair and the noose, but what about lethal injection? There are veterinarians who euthanize terminal and dying cats and dogs every day who consider the way lethal injections are carried out in prison to be inhumane.

Death row inmates are strapped down and given injections. One injection is intended to make the criminal unconscious and unaware of pain while the other injection kills the man within 5-10 minutes (I believe it’s that or 2-3 minutes. I don’t feel like consulting wiki because I’m lazy). Unfortunately it’s hard to tell what the proper dosage is and the effectiveness of the tranquilizers given. It may be that they merely paralyze the criminal and they are then incapable of showing pain and agony. The “sleep” portion might not outlast the lethal injection and the man could feel the excruciating pain of his body dying without being able to express it to the outside world. People have nightmares about having surgery, being put under, and waking up during the procedure unable to move or speak but able to feel everything during the surgery. To be immobilized and trapped inside a body that is slowly and painfully dying is a nightmare itself.

Is it right to inflict this on other people –even if it is just an “inconclusive possibility” right now? And if so, which people is it “justified” to inflict on?

I watch a show called Snapped. It’s about women who have killed. You don’t often hear about women killing people, but after all the episodes I’ve seen I can say there are 4 main reasons why women or men kill others: 1. Self-Defense (The only justified reason), 2. Money (The saddest reason), 3. Insanity (Be it temporary or otherwise), and 4. Revenge.

Self-Defense: To kill or injure a person to save someone else’s life or your own.

Self-defense isn’t taking life; it’s saving innocent life that someone was purposely trying to end for unjustified reasons.  So if there was a man in prison who would-beyond a reasonable doubt- harm or kill people if he escaped, then it would be justified to end his life in defense of those lives he would take. Just like you would have a rabid dog infected by rabies put down because you knew for a fact it would bite another animal or person. Your level of certainty needs to be very high above the realm of doubt if you’re going to end a human life for being prone to harming/ killing more people. 

And even then, Is it justified to kill him in an inhumane way – or even a way that could debatably be inhumane? I’d take the safe road and say no. Unless it’s Hitler in their brainwashing other prisoners and continuously trying to carry out plans to harm others –it is not ok to end someone’s life in a cruel or inhumane way.

And what about revenge? Is it justified? –and if so, when? Some of the people on death row are not necessarily at a high risk of harming society if re-released into it, so it’s harder to argue self-defense in those cases. So most opt for the argument of revenge or “justice being served” as some call it.

You can turn to religion or philosophy for guidance on this issue –but they give a mixed review. Most philosophical/ religious views are subjective and often n be interpreted in different ways. So it really boils down to: What are your personal beliefs on the issue and why?

My View: When a woman says, “My husband cheated on me and disgraced our marriage and betrayed my trust. He deserved it”, after she’s been found guilty of murder, do you think the jury is going to agree with her? Would you?

Heck no. Just because someone’s a jerk doesn’t mean they deserve to die. You can’t justify revenge by murder on someone because that person hurt your feelings.

But then again I’m one of those people who would hesitate to kill a serial killer. In theory, because my beliefs might change a little if actual circumstances were to occur, I would go Jessica Biel from Texas Chainsaw Massacre on that killer. Biel took his saw blade and cut off his own arm with it. It was the only funny part of the movie, when the massacre guy was reaching with the only arm he had left to get the severed arm on the floor while the bloody chainsaw was spinning around in circles because he couldn’t pick it up because you need 2 arms to do that… ha ha ha… But that’s what I would aspire to do in that situation –severely maim, not kill.

Revenge comes from hate. We should always strive to uphold compassion. Otherwise we run the risk of sinking with that white whale we can’t seem to let go of. But are there exceptions?

There are 2 cases I’d like to consider: One is Real and the I saw on a T.V. show.

In one of the cases a woman’s 21 year old daughter was bludgeoned to death with a beer glass in the college dorm by a 23 year old guy.  The 23 year old had lots of money so he hired several really good lawyers. He got off scot-free without having to spend any time in prison.  He regretted nothing. The mother of the daughter then plotted to kill him and ended up shooting him a couple months later in the chest. She was then taken to court. Her defense argued that the mother was suffering from temporary insanity and what she had done was ethical because the justice system had failed and a guilty murderer went free. When the court released the 23 year old they might as well have been saying, “Because he is rich, this crime will not be held against him. It will be forgotten as if it never happened”. By killing him, the mother had carried out the justice the court system had failed to uphold. She was the only one who held the murder accountable for his actions.

In the other case, a mother was having marital issues with her husband of 5 years. He was ill-tempered –verging- on- violent and he also drank a lot. She was trying to make things work with him, but when she found out he had repeatedly raped her 12 year old daughter on several occasions- she lost it. She shot him. In court she argued temporary insanity. It’s harder to call what this woman did an act of revenge per say because it was less premeditated and more impulsive. But it came from anger, not self-defense, and only debatably insanity. As a side note: I know for a fact that if anything like that had happened to my sister or me our mother would have killed that man too.

So which was right and which was wrong –one, both, or neither?

Another case comes to mind: The Green River Serial Killer. He killed around 40 women. He had a daughter and a wife he never harmed and no one in his family knew about the atrocities he was committing. In court the family and friends of each victim he murdered had the chance to address the killer in court. They yelled at him and cursed him and cried. They demanded to know, “Why? Why her?” The whole time through all the anger and mourning the killer remained stoic –blankly staring forward. Then came a church pastor. He looked at the killer and said something like, “I want to hate you. You killed my daughter. But I love Jesus and I know she’s with him now, and as much as I want to hate you I know forgiveness is the way to God. I forgive you for what you did”.

The killer broke down and started crying. It was one of the most amazing moments I’ve ever seen. Forgiveness reached him. And after that he showed remorse.

I think forgiveness should be practiced more than revenge. I’m not saying it can always be accomplished practically in reality under these circumstances. But forgiveness is harder to give than hate. And forgiveness is harder to give because forgiveness means letting go. To not carry that kind of anger and sadness and hate and pain around is to be released from it. It’s the way to find peace and serenity within ourselves.