I am so wishy washy when it comes to the death penalty. In general, I am for it. If you are immoral enough to take a life, then you should pay with your own.
But Tookie Williams is giving me a very real reason to think that the death penalty is wrong. This man has done all he can to reverse the damage he has caused. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He has written books against gang violence. He is being judged based on something he did when he was young and foolish. Today Arnold Schwarzenegger denied his clemency.
When I was young I was a very bad person. Well at least I appeared that way from the outside. In reality I was very hurt and scared and really didn't care if I lived or died. But I never purposely tried to hurt anyone. I was just thoughtless and careless and the drugs and the people that I was surrounded by put me into bad situations.
I have turned my life around and now I am a very moral responsible person. I think that Tookie is trying to be as well. If he is being judged based on what he did when he was young and stupid and surrounded by drugs and bad people, then why shouldn't I also be judged that way?
Isn't life itself important enough to give everyone at least some chance to redeem themselves?
I am an atheist. That means that I firmly believe there is no god and no afterlife. This life is all we get. If we blow it, then we blow it. So that means that the harshest thing you can do to someone is to take away their chance. Life becomes the ultimate possession one can have.
