nonviolence: Martin Luther King and capital punishment...

work in progress...

Clarence Ray Allen - sick old dude, ordered killings from jail cell

some murders are more important than others, but for the victims loved ones it's just the same

justice is a balancing out, making up for...
so capital punishment is a form of revenge? a dish best served cold? is that what we accomplish by killing an old man who's been in jail for 30 years?

is this the best balancing out we as society could do?
why was he allowed to talk to anyone?
interpretation of "cruel and unusual" in constitution allows execution but not more severe treatment e.g. solitary confinement.

capital punishment - from latin caput: head or top - the worst, most
severe punishment... getting "tough on crime"

bleeding heart liberals are "soft on crime" in other words do not support justice

everyone that participates (and in their actions is a de facto supporter) in the meting out is part of the official violence.

MLK preached that non-violence is a powerful tool (or was it weapon?). like Jesus not striking back at the enemy, this "withholding of justice" creates a potential, an imbalance that (maybe) must be rectified somehow - in other words let the universe be out of whack and overrule justice with love and compassion. this is the ridiculous idea that these guys preached -- let the murderers laugh. so where is the power that comes from nonviolence? to be continued...

Oskar Schindler to the sadistic concentration camp head - "think of the power you have in not killing them"
Ayn Rands objectivism - ultimate power lies with the individual