CAPITOL PUNISHMENT

I had a close friend who owned four beautiful Bluetick hounds. He used them for hunting mountain lions. He loved those hounds like his own children, always pampering them, talking to them as if they were human beings.

One of them got rabies from a raccoon and had to be put away. I've never seen a man suffer such agony over an animal, and I'm certainly not poking fun. I love animals myself. He couldn't bear to shoot the dog, but had a vet euthanize her. Ted was blue over his beloved Bessy for a month. He even had a formal burial ceremony, to which he invited only close friends.

I shouldn't have to elaborate on the necessity of putting Bessy to sleep. Rabies is a highly contagious disease, and even human beings can contract it from an infected animal. Without proper medical attention, we can die of rabies.

Of course, a rabid animal eventually dies a horrible death, but even if they could remain alive with the disease, they would have to be put away to protect the other domestic animals. A rabid animal becomes very agressive, what amounts to insanity, and will attack any living creature.

I approach the issue of capitol punishment in this fashion because I want the reader to understand that God loves His creatures, even the most corrupt of us, and He only ordains putting an end to life, as a state function, to protect the innocent and, a secondary impact, to act as a preventative measure to warn other criminals.

As is many times the case, man has devised his own flawed system, in conflict with God's, based upon our narrow perspective of good and compassion. Today criminals are "rejuvenated" and allowed to re-enter society in spite of the dismal record these felons have compiled. An astronomical number of serious crimes are committed each year by criminals on parole. Even a murderer can be back on the street in 5-7 years, and sentences aren't what they are alleged to be. A man can be sentenced to 25 years of hard time, and out in 10 on good behavior. In the meantime, we spend billions keeping these human equivalents of a rabid animal alive, provide them with every conceivable perk, such as a well furnished gymnasium, cable television, and even internet service, recreation facilities, free education, medical care and 3 square meals a day. Prisons are havens for drugs, pornography, homosexuality and racism. In effect, America has created a multi-billion dollar system of country clubs for hard case criminals.

It should be manifestly clear, particularly to the Christian, that if God ordains a course of action then it is based upon His all embracing knowledge, and it follows, if He mandates us to execute criminals then it's for a good reason....a PERFECT reason. God has all the facts, and given that He "bends over backward" to bless man, if He condemns a criminal to death it should be obvious that there is no such thing as recycling a felon, not one guilty of violent or hideous crimes at any rate, like molesting children.

The moral eclipse that blinds crusaders to reality obscures the fact that their alleged compassion is erroneously directed at the wrong people, for the innocent victims that suffer death, rape, assault or murder at the hands of a parolee can be directly attributed to the impact of the crusader. I've said for years that we should hold accountable those individuals whom are instrumental in effecting the release of such criminals. They are, in a very real sense, accessories to a crime by reason of their decision to free a man who victimizes one or more innocent citizens. If this criteria were in effect I doubt that a single violent criminal would be let out on parole.

But parole isn't really the issue here. Death is the issue. Charles Manson, and his ilk, should be put to death for their bloody crimes.

Another factor that is never considered, that I know of, is that a criminal who is a Christian still goes to heaven when he dies. Once we have salvation we can never lose it under any circumstances, thus it is a blessing for a man to be executed. All the sooner he is in heaven, and other potential victims of his predatory nature in this life are safe, from him anyway. What better scenario could possibly be forthcoming? It is easy to see the work of God's love at work here, unless you are a devoted crusader against capitol punishment.

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