Boston bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, in court.
Earlier this week, the man responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was sentenced to death in America.
Tsarnaev, was charged with the killing of three people and injuring over 260 people in a devastating attack.
We all know the severity of the crime committed but during proceedings, 21 year old Tsernaev, has apparently shown no remorse for the incident.
Should governing bodies ever be allowed to play god when it comes to taking someone’s life?
So it’s time to start really asking ourselves whether or not we agree with the death penalty as a form of punishment on a global scale.
There was plenty of coverage of the recent Bali 9 situation, and quite frankly, we are all aware of how that unfolded. We have to respect the fact that two men have passed – if for their families more than anything else.
But that situation did bring a very public attention to the death penalty at large, the type of media coverage that you’d struggle to find surrounding this decision from the US courts.
You could argue that this case doesn’t directly involve Australians, so why would it have as much coverage? And you would be right – but why should that justify not talking about it in a greater sense?
So let’s do just that and start talking about. We need to ensure the initial conversations that kicked up across Australia regarding the death penalty, don’t whimper out into nothingness.
Speaking to a few people about this case, there seems to be a substantial amount who are happy to accept the death penalty if it fits the crime. Murder, terrorist attacks, rape and other various, severe criminal acts.
That’s all well and good now, but for me, when you starting bringing buts into the conversation, things become very cloudy. For example:
“I disagree with the death penalty, but only if the crime is suited.”
Could Tsarnaev not be rehabilitated if he spent the rest of his life in jail? Could he have been used to spread messages of anti-terror? We’ll sadly never know the answer to such questions.
Tsarnaev will be killed by lethal injection, which in comparison to other death sentences like hanging and firing squad, may seem less cruel. But ultimately the result is still the same.
It’s time we started to decide whether we wholly agree with the death penalty as an acceptable punishment or to abolish it completely.
It’s a tough scenario no doubt, especially when the death penalty is enforced as punishment for severe crimes, but we have to get off the fence.
I heard a lot of people say that we shouldn’t question Indonesia’s laws when they handed down the death penalty. But if we don’t question the existence of certain laws how will we progress as a local, national and global community?
The ultimate question we need to ask ourselves, is should governing bodies ever be allowed to play god when it comes to taking someone’s life?
Img: Huffington post
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