Executing Them

I saw a video on the news recently that was alarming. Some Syrian "rebels" showing news camera men some gory scenes to show the folks back home. They were executing prisoners they captured in their attempt to "bring democracy" to Syria.  That in itself is odd, but the way they executed them made it worse. After each prisoner (they called them "infidels and traitors") was shot or sliced to death with machetes one of the so called "executioners proceeded to cut out and eat the heart of the executed person.  How savage is that? I guess the thugs who were executing want to make their enemies fear the enemy combatant that the same would happen to themselves or a loved one if they fight against the heart eaters. Still, it is about as base a behavior as one might ever see. It made me reflect on the whole concept of killing prisoners or criminals.

In the U.S. we still execute some prisoners who committed crimes that resulted in the death of the victim. It seems savage to me that a nation would teach the lesson that murder is wrong, by committing murder itself.  But people do like vengeance. Some people say society needs to teach the lesson that killing is wrong and needs "closure" against those kinds of criminals, meaning that they prefer to see the criminal die. We have had a long tradition of that in the U.S.  In the days of the old west,  in the 19th century, people used to make a holiday out of executions. They would gather in the town square to watch hangings. Vendors sold snacks and the kids thought of public hangings like kids today respond to attending a football game. It was seen as good clean fun. Laughter far outweighed tears at a town hanging session.

That kind of event probably won't ever happen here again. We are said to be "more civilized" today. Hmmmm I am not so sure that humans are yet civilized.  So instead of public executions, the states now execute the criminals in privacy inside prisons by hanging, shooting or injecting lethal drugs in the veins of the prisoner. We don't see it, but know it is happening, and that means most of us don't think about it or care if criminals are being killed by the government. Does this mean we have reached a little higher level of civility than when we saw executions are pure entertainment? I am not sure.  Though people don't think about capital punishment as much as they did in the days of the old west, their silence in opposition to capital punishment is a kind of silent approval of it.  Well, at least we don't crucify criminals anymore or burn heathens at the stake like the Catholic Church did for so many centuries.

But then, some Islamic countries today still stone to death or behead their criminals, and with mostly consent from the believers who are not being stoned or beheaded.  Their religion says it's good to stone and behead some humans. That probably means that humans have a long way to go before they conclude that killing even the worst members of the human family is a bad and cruel idea.  But then...if you agree.... I wouldn't promote that idea that too loudly. Some of the capital punishment advocates might see you as suitable for the next hanging fantasy.