I am reading about the execution of Mr. Morales. It is very disturbing to me to continue to read articles by otherwise relatively intelligent people that just miss the whole boat on the death penalty issue.
The latest challenge to the death penalty in the USA comes from Mr. Morales who doesn't want a drug that is banned for use in putting down other animals to be used on him for the same reason: that it causes the patient undo pain. We have a law in the constitution against cruel punishment. His argument seems plausible and prudent.
When will our society come to the realization that there is no such thing as "closure?" The victim's family has to come to terms with their daughter's death at the time of their daughter's death. Exacting revenge with the death penalty on another human being isn't going to bring them "closure." Anyone who has suffered a catastrophic or tragic event in their life can tell you first hand that exacting revenge out of anger is not going to solve their loss, even if it gives them a cathartic rush of pleasure to answer their anger. That satisfaction will only last fifteen minutes, and then they will realise that their daughter is still dead, and that they have waited these 25 years for this execution with false expectations.
Let Mr. Morales answer for his own actions to society in general and answer to God (if there is one). Let Mr. Morales deal with his own problems. The victims family would be better served to worry about those who really are still in the lives of the victim's family. I would suggest that caring for eachother within that family would bring about more healing than spending 25 years extracting a hallow revenge on someone that has nothing to do with the family's real concern: the loss of their beloved daughter.
Running off to witness an execution of someone you should be avoiding altogether after waiting 25 years is something I would strongly recommend not doing. Such an action will only bring up all the pain of their loss all over again. Whether or not Mr. Morales dies in prison or on the gurney (sp?) should hardly be worthy of the victim's family's consideration, hardly worthy of their precious time on this earth.
The death penalty is wrong, morally wrong. It was wrong when it was served on their daughter unlawfully by this criminal, and wrong again when and if it is administered (painfully) to the perpetrator. That it is administered painfully is only further proof of the obvious moral challenge. Sure, a painless death is "better" than a painful one, but it is still in the wrong.
My feelings can only go the the victim's famiy that should have spent the last 25 years getting on with their lives, moving on. Worrying about Mr Morale's problems and running off to see his execution is, well, ill invested time emotionally. Closure, in that sense, is a false concept. Professional psychiatrists and other therapists know it is better to wear our painful scars as trophies to learning instead of burying our painful memories in revenge, anger, or simple avoidance. You can't just bury your problems or kill them off. Our society is filled with violent problems, including murder, war, and failing to show others by example that we shouldn't be killing one another willfully or painfully. Mr. Morales wants us to practice what we preach, that it is wrong to bring others harm and death by pain. He's right. He knows he was wrong to murder that innocent child, and he has spent the last 25 years and the rest of his life paying for that error. Can't we all learn from this instead of burying our feelings in anger and revenge? Shame.