People of Iraq: Don't kill Saddam.

First of all, I'm never a fan of the Death penalty. Granted, I think the whole anti-taking a life for taking a life argument is retarded: we put people in jail for kidnapping and fine people for stealing. How is it so much less fair to kill for killing than to imprison for imprisoning?

I do not support the Death penalty in any circumstance because of the following reasoning:

Who decides what crimes deserve Death, and how do they decide that? What are the criteria? Do all killers deserve Death? Do all premeditative killers deserve Death? Do those whose dispositions make it possible for them to kill in moments of extreme passion deserve Death? Do those who disrespect life to the extreme of recklessly endangering the lives of others by drinking and driving deserve Death? Do mass murderers, serial killers, or rampage killers deserve Death? Do sociopathic killers deserve Death? What about those who know someone is being killed and do nothing to stop it? Do 18-year olds deserve Death? 17-year olds? 19-year olds?

Any or all of these have been suggested, but what makes one individual any more qualified to decide than anyone else? And what rock hard logic can they offer in support? Many more qualified bloggers than I (Socrates, for example) have touched on human imperfection, but we are dealing with a perfect thing when we are dealing with Death. Which brings me to my next point:

When you kill someone, that's it. Game over. When an individual goes to jail, he/she/it has the rest of his/her/its life to consider the crime and idealistically, seek forgiveness and/or atonement. When that individual is put to Death, it is the result of a microscopic percentage of the human race saying that he/she/it has forfeited one of the most basic rights I feel we hold as humans: the Right to Redemption. The right to seek forgiveness from those whom we have hurt and consequentially, whatever force governs the universe. And the right to create a better world. Sentencing an individual to Death is banishing that person to whatever eternal reward lies for murderers on the other side of Death.

Who are we, as imperfect beings, to claim such a massive responsibility? No matter whom we decide deserves death, it will always be an arbitrary decision. 18-year olds... 19-year olds... 20-year olds... 21-year olds... And honestly, what is scarier than the thought of arbitrarily deciding who deserves to die? (Not to mention the number of people who have been proven innocent with scientific evidence after they have already been executed... Check it out.)

Which brings me to the point of my blog.

Saddam Hussein may be quite the santorum, but don't kill him.

There must, in fact, be good in him the same way that there must be good even in Dick Cheney. And because, in fact, there must be... what right do we have as imperfect creatures to take away his Right to Redemption? Granted, I know the murder he's being executed for was over 20 years ago, and he still hasn't seeked any sort of redemption but still:

Is he really a threat to anyone in the world at this point?

Is he really being killed in the name of Justice rather than Revenge?

Is he really going to be hanged?

Is it really 2006? And he's being hanged? And everyone's... okay with this?

So, Kofi Annan, George Bush, Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi Court of Appeals, next time you guys check my blog, please take a little extra time to think about things before you kill the man/allow the man to be killed. Think about the ramifications of putting a man even like Saddam Hussein to death.

Keep in mind... we're imperfect, but Death isn't.