tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13219339.post617567608800498361..comments2024-01-11T06:33:38.025-06:00Comments on Psychedelic Kimchi: Hell of a ThingHarrison Forbeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327802075480076782noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13219339.post-24736154677777698442013-11-12T09:35:44.458-06:002013-11-12T09:35:44.458-06:00I think this is a fairly common perspective. I, fo...I think this is a fairly common perspective. I, for one, have grown inclined toward mercy over vengeance. Not because I think that's what people deserve or that they will "have the opportunity to change" or anything like that. Mostly because I find it difficult to be committal to any person or persons being the arbiters of life and death, even in response to someone else having done so, and even in response to such horrific circumstances.<br /><br />Which is not to say I'm any less angry than you are about the idea of someone resting out their days comfortably in prison--if that's how we want to view it--but in my eyes violence begets more violence (even metaphorically, because any trauma tends to lead people to pass that trauma along in one way or another whether they mean to or not), and the only way to stop that is for us to choose something different, angry as we may be. I just can't seem to justify killing in response to killing, regardless of if I think I can justify whether or not that is what someone deserves. And as you mentioned, who do we task with taking that responsibility on themselves, and what will the consequences of that be like? Frankly, knowing what we do about mental illness and trauma, it's hard for me to believe any of us could have enough insight into the history and depths of someone else to justifiably determine what another human deserves. It's probably not a popular opinion, but that's just me.Avishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03139605980346888102noreply@blogger.com