The Batlord

I did, but does it matter at this point?

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Norg

Some people in norway, want to end the christanity there over throw there current government leave the western allies sphere and become a, more pagen nordish independent neutral country

Chula Vista

Sounds like Texas. Except they want to force feed the Christianity.

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“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

Janszoon

Classic norg post.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

The Batlord

I'm most curious about the comma. Of all the places in that post he could have used punctuation, why there?

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James

It doesn't matter whether it's the consciousness of what you perceive to be a 'real' human being, it's still consciousness. They ended up sick and twisted for a reason, we should look at those reasons and try to solve them or find out more, we shouldn't just blindly kill those that are morally inferior.
I don't think it's very civilised. When we start killing people off, we are devolving, and heading in the same direction as exactly what we intend to eradicate.

The Batlord

I agree with your conclusions, that we should treat rather than punish, but I'm just trying to question your valuing of an individual's worth implicitly. Someone like Bundy has no worth to society other than as a way to learn more about others like him. And I'm not just talking about society in the larger sense. He might have done things that benefited somebody, but any relationship anybody formed with him with any depth would be shallow and parasitic. A "friendship" with a sociopath is merely a fantasy.

So, what does it matter if he's a "person"? The only thing to be gained by keeping him alive, besides society at large conforming to a desirable moral direction by treating human life with ever greater concern, is what I have already proposed: study.

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James

Well, that's rocky ground. If we only measure people's lives in relation to their value to society then why don't we kill people who are severely mentally disabled?
I know that's a pretty big leap, and very sensationalist. But they technically don't contribute anything to society either, they still deserve the same rights as everyobdy else. The right to live being the principal one.

The Batlord

Like I said, I wasn't just talking about society at large. Someone who is mentally disabled can be of worth to the family and friends that they cultivate. Their relationships can be legitimate and fulfilling for all parties. Along with the rest of humanity, they can contribute to a society that is emotionally fulfilling and worth living in. This is not the case with a sociopath.

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James

Well what about people with no family, no friends, hermits and loners?
This is getting more philosophical than political - but I suppose what this comes down to is the perception of 'value' and what we both hold to be important. I don't think emotional fulfillment is necessarily all that important in this world, except case to case and even then it's a personal thing. If we're talking about value to society in an extremely basic, stripped down sense then Bundy is physically fit and has a dick that works. If you remove everything that's really what's important.
You can't discuss the death penalty without morals coming into play, it is simply the most important aspect in that debate. If you try to look at it from a practical standpoint then the lines become too blurred - because on one hand hey smother him with a pillow then he won't use any of our resources and we'll protect our flock. If those rules apply to him, then we'd be killing people left right and centre. As said before, innocents are going to slip through the cracks. That's always going to be inexcusable in my eyes.