Why Are We Talking About Killing?

If you think of it, the death penalty is nothing but killing.  I understand that it is legally sanctioned in many states, including Texas where I live.  But we do not call it killing. We call it "the death penalty" as a euphemism.  People who are in favor of the death penalty seem to  think it is okay, because to get to the point where someone has been convicted of a crime, they go through due process, and are convicted in court, or plead guilty of a crime. I think, no matter how heinous the crime, I do not have the right to be the cause of someone else's death. 

So, I was appalled this week when I heard the NPR story http://www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392375383/states-scramble-to-deal-with-shortages-of-execution-drugs about states that are running out of the drug they use for administering the death penalty. This story reflects that the states are authorizing alternative methods for the death penalty, if drugs are not available. I am flabbergasted by this:  there is talk of using electric chairs or a firing squad. This is brutal. This is inhumane. This is killing.

Why are we talking about extending the death penalty?  Why are we not talking about eliminating it, as many other countries have, and are putting pressure on this country to do so.

For a nation that prides itself for due process and respect for human rights, we really stink:  Think about slavery. Think about the War Between the States that resulted in so many deaths. Think about the treatment of the Native Americans. Think about child labor. Think about apartheid and segregation in this country under the Jim Crow laws. Think about the struggles to overcome discrimination. Think about women's suffrage. Think about farm labor struggles. Think about voting rights. Think about the prisoners at Guantanamo. Think about the current unrest in many cities because of racial profiling and the over targeting of minorities.

As a nation, we do not do so good in the arena of human rights.  And this discussion about alternative methods of administering the death penalty is just one example.