I do not mourn Saddam Hussein , but the Death Penalty is still wrong...

[SaveElmer]

I have NO sympathy for Saddam Hussein...NONE. With some people, some truly evil people such as Saddam, death is not to be mourned in my opinion.

However, I am unalterably opposed to the death penalty...not because in some very rare cases the person being executed doesn't deserve it, but because murder is always wrong, makes no difference that the government is the one doing the murdering.

Though I am not a practicing Christian (actually a Unitarian), I believe that the ethical teachings of Jesus, stripped of the supernatural mumbo-jumbo that has become the focus of so much of Christianity, is one of the best guides for how to live our lives.

In Matthew 5:21-22 Jesus said "You have heard it said long ago, "Do not murder". . . But I say that if anyone is angry with his brother, he will be worthy of judgment. And if anyone says to his brother, "Empty-headed," he will be answerable to the Sanhedrin . But if anyone says, "You fool," he will be in danger of the fire of hell."

Not only does Jesus admonish against murder, he warns against anger and the devaluation of others...which at its base, is the true source of murder. When we murder, even monsters like Saddam Hussein, we are encouraging the devaluation of human life which then permeates the conciousness of our society, and ultimately makes it easier for others to murder as well.

Bottom line, we are demeaned by the practice.