Without delving into the arena of the debate on capital punishment, I would just like to post this world map.
I know the key is slightly hard to make out in the below picture; it reads:
Information accurate as of February 14, 2011, when Gabon abolished capital punishment.
Blue - Nations where the death penalty is illegal or no longer in practice in civilian law
Pink - Nations where the death penalty is legal and still in use
My only comment: we sure are in good company.
DUDE! this is a great post, very good. I never knew how many nations did not support capital punishment. I do not know what it is with the U.S. and apparently other nations, when they feel it is their right to execute someone. Yes our prisons are overcrowded and draining a lot of money but i don't think the answer is capital punishment but rather a societal change and turn from ignorance haha that is one of my more optimistic responses.
ReplyDeleteWhat is more awesome? The team we're not on.
ReplyDeleteMexico? Venezuela? Haiti? A chunk of those war-torn Central American countries? Most of West Africa? The entire USSR minus that one bloc country?
Yet the United States has been called a land of progress and forward thinking? Bah!
But hey, to be fair... Jesus carried around a gun and he shot all sorts of people when they disobeyed his rules. As a Christian nation, I feel like we are obligated by the Holy Bible to force people to (1) carry firearms on their person at all times and (2) condemn their fellow human beings to death for murder (even if that murder could probably be attributed to someone unknown mental illness).
(...ponders to self while silently looking at a steeple in the distance... 'Whatever happened to Reagan?')
I have always found topics that divide the US from the rest of the free world highly interesting.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm sure half of the countries where capital punishment is "illegal" still carry it out in secret, and yeah I know in times of war this map would look quite a bit different, but even still, the mere fact that the only nations on the map that aren't considered "developing" are Obamalandia and Japan is startling. No offense to the Asian continent but...Japan is in Asia, so that kinda eliminates it from the whole human rights debate haha.
Essentially we are the only ones; the leaders of the free world and yet the only member of it to kill its own people in a systematic and fully legal way. It's not the most pressing issue in the world, but it is 2011...maybe it's about time capital punishment should go the route of slavery in this country (and hey maybe this time it won't cost 630,000 American lives haha).
And yeah, whatever did happen to good ol' Reaggy? hahahah Adam I laughed really hard at that when I saw it. Praise the virgin and praise her holy president Reagan!
And Matt I totally agree; the answer to our overcrowded prisons is not killing people but rather putting an end to locking up people whose worst charge is the possession of marijuana.... and wow THAT is a whole other conversation though haha.