And what of how Saddam ordered the deaths of thousands? Shouldn't his punishment be somewhat equal to his crimes?
Maybe if we made a way to ressurect people within the 30 days till his death, we could kill him thousands of times. But what good would that do?

the people would get to see the horrors of execution and it would be quite effective in deterring future crime.

To me, this sounds slightly...crude, perhaps?

Buddhists believe that all life is sacred. It is an inheret tenement in our moral system and most people do value life. That is what the insurgents count on when they use children and women to try and ambush the convoys. Retribution is not outdated and is in fact very much alive today. However, we must have some sort of justice system in order to keep what we call law and order otherwise chaos ensues.

Indeed. As Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".

Buddhists believe that all life is sacred.

So, from your understanding, JM12, how univerasally is that dictum applied? From the lowliest of plant life? Also, are there any caveats to that belief? I've never personally studied buddhism and was interested in your take on the whole buddhist angle on the life/death topic, esp w/regards to capital punishment. thanks.

Maybe if we made a way to ressurect people within the 30 days till his death, we could kill him thousands of times. But what good would that do?

Just as much good as making criminals serve prison time.

So, from your understanding, JM12, how univerasally is that dictum applied? From the lowliest of plant life? Also, are there any caveats to that belief? I've never personally studied buddhism and was interested in your take on the whole buddhist angle on the life/death topic, esp w/regards to capital punishment. thanks.


From what I understand from buddhism, the only life that is held sacred is the ones that you can reincarnate as.
I believe that when the principle was created, it didn't have bacteria and other various microscopic lifeform in mind.
So anything, living and breathing, visible to the naked eye and has a certain consciousness, if only basic. That would exclude plant life.
Buddhist are veggies afterall :) We have to eat!

From my understanding, it was the ideal that all life is connected to one another, each working together to create the world we live in. Native Americans have this philosophy as well, being one with the Earth and the like. My use in this discussion was to point out that here in the States we tend to value life, even those of criminals. If you want to look at the religious angle, Christians view life as a sacred thing as well. Just look at the kerfuffle over abortion and euthanasia (forgive spelling). I used the Buddhist angle mainly for the reason to support the idea that because we value life that goes for the low rates of execution.

^^^
That sounds bold. Are you advocating it for just certain types of crimes?

Well, certainly! I wouldn't suggest it for theft. That's what a chopping block is for. ;) The Arabs got that punishment right. I knew someone who visited Saudi Arabia and found it amazing that street merchants would have piles of coin sitting out in the open and no one would steal the money. A thief has a harder time stealing without a hand!

I think we need public execution for capital crime and public whipping with a cane for misdemeanor offenses. And I believe that paddles should be back in our schools. I know I got into a lot less trouble before they began taking them out of the principal's office because I feared getting my backside tanned. ISS is for wussies! The problem in the United States is that we have forgotten the value of "healthy fear."

Well, certainly! I wouldn't suggest it for theft. That's what a chopping block is for. ;) The Arabs got that punishment right. I knew someone who visited Saudi Arabia and found it amazing that street merchants would have piles of coin sitting out in the open and no one would steal the money. A thief has a harder time stealing without a hand!

It's not the most civilized punishment, but it definitely helps.

I think we need public execution for capital crime and public whipping with a cane for misdemeanor offenses.

I agree with you there. If there'll be punishment, you might as well make it public. Events like those leave a much stronger imprint upon people than reading about something in the news.

And I believe that paddles should be back in our schools. I know I got into a lot less trouble before they began taking them out of the principal's office because I feared getting my backside tanned. ISS is for wussies! The problem in the United States is that we have forgotten the value of "healthy fear."

Aren't you a teacher, MdKnight? ;)

Aren't you a teacher, MdKnight? ;)

Yep! ;)

Yep! ;)

Heh, I'm not very surprised you'd advocate corporal punishment in school, then. :D

Hey from what I hear, kids didn't get into much trouble back in the day when there was corporal punishment.

Yeah, they didn't. Did you hear about the American teenager who went to Singapore? He started doing vandalism or something, and they gave him a public beating. That kid stayed far on the right side of the law for the rest of the time he was there. :D

Oh yeah. You pull crap in foreign countries, they'll bust you big time.