Dead Teen Walking

The death penalty has always been a controversial topic. The issues behind it are so complex that some people find it’s hard to choose a side. However, in the case of teen death penalties, the U.S. is severely out of date. If we are in the company of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nigeria and Yemen, countries “known for human rights violations”, then it’s time for a change. The fact that “two-thirds of their group are minorities” only shows how skewed the system is. It isn’t just the fact that these kids usually have low IQs, have been physically/mentally/sexually abused or suffered serious psychiatric problems, it’s also the fact that many convicted youths are not the “career criminals” that death row is used for a “last resort of justice”.

Like in the novel White Fang, nature vs. nurture needs to be taken into account. A character named Beauty Smith “was a monstrosity, and the blame of it lay elsewhere. He was not responsible. The clay of him had been so molded in the making” (London 213). The juveniles on death row have been proven to have some form of abuse. As Victor Streib said, these teens are living at home; they’re living the abuse whereas an adult criminal has “had time to form a new life”. I don’t believe that reading White Fang greatly influenced my opinion on this matter, but I suppose it developed more support for it. Because while one might argue that White Fang changed from what nature taught him so it proves these death row juveniles could too, we have to remember that it took a long time for White Fang to suppress that nature after the “nurture” he’d received.

While I can’t assume to fully understand why a victim’s family or loved one’s would want the death penalty or what I would do in a similar situation, I still believe that the death penalty is wrong. It costs less to keep a person in jail for life than to execute them. There needs to be that reverence for life. Revenge or “an eye for an eye” won’t solve anything. Again, though I don’t know how I’d react in a victim’s shoes, I have hope that I’d have the strength to let go of revenge. I think a lot of people confuse revenge with forgiveness; they are not one and the same. If taking away the death penalty completely is too big a leap for people right now, at least the U.S. should start by taking away the teen death penalty.

Should We Torture?

I agree with Andrew Sullivan who was against torture. Personally, it’s a moral issue with me but his argument included numerous positions that I’d never even considered. It is a complicated issue and more than a simple answer is required. When Sullivan stated that “torture is the polar opposite of freedom” he was condensing “a large part of the idea that is America”. It’s maintaining our position on the ‘higher’ ground; something Sullivan notes has worked before in World War II. Also, he addresses the fact that once any type or degree of torture is allowed it has the tendency to spread. Charles Krauthammer claims it is our “moral duty” to collect vital information from terrorists but as Sullivan mentions, the information is usually inaccurate when extracted by torture. Torture can even have the opposite reaction to the desired effect; prisoners might go on hunger strikes or give false information to stop the immediate torture. Torture isn’t “civilized” as Krauthammer claims our country is; it can only be a “weapon-to use against us”.

Good vs. Evil

This piece was certainly interesting. I’ve always wondered why there’s such wide spread apathy towards the suffering in other countries. The explanation that it might be because these people don’t exist in our “tribe” isn’t an excuse but it definitely sheds light. Detachment and “brainwashing” has been a theory for genocide before, but with this study the exact reason for it is explained. I found it ironic that everything (well almost everything) we, as humans, pride ourselves as the only animals capable (such as tools or communication) is mostly untrue. There is also mention of how someday we might be “civilized” which is odd because the majority of humans already believe that, as a species, we are civilized. The author left he article with a positive tone saying that, while there was pain ahead, hopefully most of it was behind us.

Senior Social

I was in fifth grade at the time in Mrs. Larson's class. At Cathedral there wasn't very large class sizes so I was with almost all of my friends. I remember the principal at the time coming into the class room and whispering to my teacher. She had just told us that during lunch planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. The principal was there to stop her from telling us because it would upset us. I remember just sitting with my friends and not fully comprehending what was going on. A few girls were worried about their fathers having to go off to war because of what happened. Others were nervous because they had relatives in New York and weren't quite sure where they were now.

School ended that day and my mom came to pick me up. She drove my sister and I straight home and then the whole family sat on the couch and watching the footage and news come live onto the television. We didn't say a word the whole time; we just watched in a mixture of disbelieve and horror. I'd never seen my dad cry before and it was incredibly unnerving to see. That day will be forever burned into my memory as it will for the millions who saw and experienced it.