Would you be willing to watch a public execution?

I've occasionally experienced them in my sleep, finding later on the news what happened. I guess all those people gathered create a channel. That's already closer than I'd like to be. I have a reasonable sensitivity to lingering spirit's of death, and again, I don't like it. Besides, I don't even believe in the death penalty.

I think it would make me sick to watch

uh huh.

I would not choose to. It depends on what you mean by "willing".... you know, if I had a choice between watching an execution and imprisonment, I would attend the execution but not look.... At least I would try not to look, morbid fascination might get the better of me, though. In a way it would depend on the killing method too. I think it would be easier to watch a hanging than a burning. And watching a lethal injection would just be boring.

I might even pay!

Hell yes. I couldn't pass up the experience.

NO WAY! How evil could you get??

Yes

yes

I'd be willing to perform a public execution.

only if it was seinfeld

definitely not!!!

But this is a very hard question to answer. Our minds are so immune to the reality of death that we are intrigued by the idea, but I know deep down inside I wouldn't want to be there and if I were present, it would be something I would never get out of my mind. I think some things are better left to the imagination and Hollywood.

Yes, though I'd probably regret it.

I'd definitely watch if Godzilla was performing it!

absolutely not.

forget deep down inside, I know right up on top I wouldn't want to see it either.

Well that's the answer to one of my questions I guess.

I started to check no, switched to maybe.

I'd watch if:

- it were someone I loved being executed, so that they could see me being there for them in spirit in their last moments

- it were someone who'd done great harm to me and mine who was being executed, so I could know that their harmdoing was over

avo: your first your first point makes me reconsider as well. The second example couldn't fit in my outlook though.

I am strongly opposed to capital punishment, and I would be horrified by the act. But, if there were a good reason for me to do so, I guess I would not shie away.

okay, if it was somebody whom I loved, maybe, if I thought I could give them comfort in their last moments.

oh come on... isn't there some "alligator brain" part of you that wants to see death and destruction?
Public executions used to be very popular in the old days. Are you all magically above that mentality now, or are you just kidding yourselves?

I'd watch

Bill: I don't think that we're "magically above" that, I just think that society has changes slowly over that time period, and we're not used to the concept. I'm sure public executions could be re-introduced, and that they'd be immediately popular among some groups and slowly catch on among others, but right at the moment, I *really* wouldn't want to watch one, and it's hard to imagine that changing. Heck, I can't even watch violence in movies -- how could I bring myself to watch in person?

No bill, no. I love destruction, but not when conscious life is involved.

bill: nope. I have only "fluffy bunny brain."
And magic has nothing to do with my being above that mentality!

*makes alligator noises*

*in Steve Erwin voice*

"Blimey, will you look at that! What a beauty you are old gurl, look at your lovely alligator brain... By Crikey!"

Enheduanna & gilly - don't be afraid of your dark side - let it out, allow yourself to becoming fully human... in fact more human that human - super human! Superior to all those mindless robots!

mindless robots=mechanical
human=animal

mindless robot=clockwork
human=orange

*raises an eyebrow at bill*

A droogie that doesn't appreciate a classical station, must be having mad-cow highballs.

Morbid curiousity makes me want to say yes, my ethics make me say no.

bill- no. I'm not "magically over it," but nor am I interested. I agree with what gilly says about how people and peoples change and how cultures evolve. I do not believe that I am afraid of my dark side, I am aware of morbid curiosity and random angry blood-lust urges, and I think that I express them in healthful ways. Just because something isn't wrong doesn't make it right, and just because something isn't unnatural doesn't make it natural.

I was going to explain that not needing those feelings & reactions doesn't require magic, but I don't think I can explain it that way. All of my feelings are things like awe & joy & such. If I get depressed, it's because I did it to myself. The only problems in my life are other people's, I know I will always have an answer I'm suited to address. And even if you don't have such grace, worry is always illogical as spock would say.
I might clarify an earlier comment. I love natural destruction, not violence or waste.

Yes, I could. I believe in the Bible there is a reference to this subject. It could be used as a deterrent. I think there should be public executions.

Maybe if it was death by lethal injection, which I hear doesn't _look_ like the person is in a lot of pain. I don't think I would want to watch someone struggling or begging though.

Jeanne: Don't you think that people who need deterrent's have not been taught to think for themselves about the golden rule? Perhaps these people had rules forced upon them in the first place, and that's why they felt that this world is some place in which you can get away with anything that isn't punishable, by parent, magistrate, karma, or god.
So tell me, what did Jesus do wrong? I tell you these saviours are really messing up our 'one nation under horus'. (You know horus, the one who's eye above the pyramid was placed by our nations mason's on the back of the dollar bill).

Kristal Rose: I feel there are some people that there is absolutely no way to be rehabilitated. For especially heinous crime, I think a person should be put to death immediately, if proven guilty, especially if there were witnesses. None of this 14 years on appeals. Riculous! Lawyers are being kept fat and sassy while innocent people are being harmed. I know of a case years ago, when I did housecleaning for a doctor, to earn a little extra income (I wanted to be with my children, so I worked parttime during the day when they were in school) a woman next door to this doctor's house I was cleaning, four days a week, that was raped, stabbed and left for dead. I was terrified that the man would come back to the neighborhood, which was an upscale neighborhood. The law finally caught up to the man after three weeks. The man had just got out of prison two weeks before. I see a problem here don't you? The law is too lenient on violent people.

I'm not quite following you Kristal Rose, who is this horus? I have read a little something about this subject, could you let us know what you mean?

OK. Let's assume that we execute them immediately. Then evidence pops up that the guy was framed by an overzealous DA, and racist cops. Then what? "Oh well. Too bad?" NO! The death penalty system is far too flawed, and I have yet to see one ounce of proof that capital punishment acts as a detterent.

I had feared I had been too succinct. -
It appears you're missing absolutely every point I was making here, then brought in additional topics. Hopefully I can address them all with more clarity.
That Jesus was sentenced to death should be an indication that either wrongful judgements within a government with a judicial system can be made, or that entire popularly supported governments (even if by none other than majority non-rejection) can be wrong about who to punish for what. It was the romans, not the egyptians who executed jesus, so ceasar or jupiter may have been more appropriate than my reference to one-nation-under-'horus', but the concept was the same; he committed treason against the standing system. In modern america, treason is still a capital offense, especially if you are in the armed forces.
I also brought horus up, because although our bills say 'in god we trust', the picture on the dollar bill is of horus, the same worshipped by all pharoahs who persecuted the hebrews. Besides further pointing out to you in response to another survey that this was never founded as a religious country (but rather one built upon the notion of self-centered capitalism), I was also trying to expose the possibility that in a repeat of the recent (43 yrs ago) McCarthy outbreak that ruined the careers of many innocent people, that likewise, if the identical man jesus were to appear in this culture in a McCarthy period, he might very well be executed for, to use your term, 'subversive communism'. [as more or less, a few people here have been trying to hint to you, if not the much greater likelihood of him being diagnosed schizophrenic or delusional] The points I have just clarified were not necessarily material to the case of capital punishment as a 'deterrent' unless, as I jokingly implied, those pesky saviour's see the error in their ways, or at least mind the strong hand of the people's democracy.
My first point in the former comment was quite pertinent to the issue of capital punishment as a 'deterrent' (as distinguished from a 'response' or yet another separate case, that of 'punishment').
The greatest wisdom I have ever been given on living within creation [though that is not the limit of my scope], is to consider for all your thoughts and actions' "are you motivated by love or fear". As ultimately there is nothing but god, to whom we can't help but ultimately rejoin (with consciousness is a separate issue), there is nothing to fear. Likewise, in the shorter term of a human lifespan, again, down to the devil, there is nothing here which is not of god, by god, for god. When you accept that your purpose here is to delight in creation, even if that be a few milennium of horror movies now and then,, when you join with the creator to choose what heaven's and hell's you wish to partake in, you will have no reason for fear.
I do not believe any infant is born with murder in their heart's. I believe that because instead of being taught unity with the heart, wisdom, intellect, and will of the logo's, they have been taught to believe that this is a world of peril to fear. Since I had been harsh on you with the above comment, I was hoping you would be the victorious one to answer my question in another survey about what my 'biblical' error in the comment was. I'll tell you now, as god reminded me when I made the mistake. I had called an area of hollywood sinful. Jesus taught "he who has an eye that does not see heaven should tear it out". To make a less spiritual, more psychological illustration of the fear topic, let me use my kids as an example. I have seen many kids, when my own aren't with me I tutor those of neighbor's in the arts and sciences. I have never had to punish my kids, I have never shown them scorn, I have never made them feel guilty, I have never threatened them, yet I have the sweetest most responsible kids I have ever met. The worst kids I have ever seen are those who are punished (especially in cicumstances not directly proportional to the childs behaviour). It is my firm belief that in these children the natural internal inclinations to nurture and be nurtured are usurped with the false external notion that life, perhaps even ones own parents are to be feared or mistrusted. My daughter was an example of the grace available from birth; She would walk in her tender feet at the age of four, over a block of sidewalk absolutely riddled in broken glass for a couple years, never looking down, only once getting a piece in her feet. Not being in that degree of grace at the time, I had to grit my teeth and restrain myself from telling her to watch her feet, that glass could cut her. Now I unquestionably concede that there are abused children out there. One's who's parents were incapable of bringing their children immediately into the light, having never seen it them selves. Back to my predominant, though lesser arguement; it is my contention that children raised to believe in external
Oh God, I'm collapsing into tears. Why can't people see.
consequences, not see god in everything, not see that all they are is god in love with god.
Anyone who can see this is immune.
Ok, my point is that threat makes god's creation the enemy, making it the enemy is not going to rehabilitate anyone. Everyone was born with the truth, and for the most part, fed delusion ever since. Perhaps you don't believe it's worth the effort. I've been through many states of consciousness; believing that a person can not at least surface the buried pearl of compassion, with some effort is somewhat beyond me. One of my ideas for rehabilitation is co-op work farms, where close collaboration and effort is necessary for a bountiful survival. But I suppose that could go as wrong as Sartre's 'No exit' in which three incompatible personalities must spend an eternity in a room together.
In my experience every adult get's whatever they believe to be their own reality. Some choose to believe it's more miserable than others, and get the consequences of that belief.
You speak as much of punishment, as you do deterrent.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

As to horus, I could go on about him, he's related to time and creation and such. (also I think overlooking fair trade got him on the dollar). It's a name I use for some cosmic energy stuff you probably don't want to hear about. It's all god, but parts of it have different emphasis on things.

KR: I had hoped to comment on this at length, but I think you've taken up all the available words!

Kristal Rose: Your children sound like lovely children. How old are they?

It appears you have read the Bible. I have read most of the Bible and have studied with a very learned minister. But, I know I have a lot to learn about the Bible. I don't know exactly where the scripture is, but there is one that talks of public execution and to send the perpetrator to the Father in heaven and he will take care of the wrong doer.

Obviously, we all fall short of perfection.

However, what is your opinion on what God meant when he said, "Esau, I hated you in your mother's womb?"

I still feel we should have public execution and feel it would be a deterrent. Unfortunately, there will be innocent people, but rarely, that will suffer. When I said someone who has committed a heinous crime should be executed immediately, I mean if there were unbiased witnesses, a fair trial.

I am sick of the crime and the perpetrator's being coddled by the liberal system. Innocent, non violent people should not be held hostage by criminals because of the liberal system. There are some people that just can't be rehabilitated, those that are hardened. Let the Father in heaven take care of his wrong doing child.

Brian: I think a PUBLIC execution would be a deterrent. We do not have public executions, so therefore how could they prove not to be a deterrent? I think the police departments try to do the best they can to do their job. Brian, my dear, sounds like you've been endoctrinated by the liberal educational and media establishment.

Jeanne: Sounds like you've been endoctrinated by the xenophobic conservative disinformation machine.

Awaiting their flight, Venus on the half shell executes a daring stage leap into the herd of Circes.

Jeanne: like both the world at large, and the logo's (living word of god), there is something for everyone here. It seems that whethar in life or a book, you will opt to explore the more miserable possibilities. I try to avoid the bible. most of it is misery. But when I do read it for other's sake, I often encounter passages that are destructive to human development, in these situations, I can always just flip open to a random page, where the logo's will use the book to explain or supercede the prior passage.

Where do I sign up and how soon can I watch?

I think watching Brian and Jeanne go at it with flamethrowers would probably satisfy me.

However, to Brian's point: people die every day (I think this is accurate) because some nurse can't read a doctor's handwriting or because a clerk entered the wrong code into some computer somewhere. People die for no reason. People are imprisoned, have their belongings taken from them and their money, are separated from their families all for no reason whatsoever and it sucks. Life is neither fair nor pleasant and if you thought it was either then maybe your luck just hasn't run out yet. The point is that it comes down to statistics. When I design an airbag for a car, I am condemning a certain number of people to death. I can calculate it and before that car ever rolls off the assembly line I know that people are going to die. Why would I build such a thing? Because it helps society by protecting far more lives than it harms. Wrongful death is a horrible thing and I guess in most cases it's worse than wrongful imprisonment, but no matter how you write the laws, some number of people are going to be wrongfully executed or imprisoned until death. It's just a matter of how many screw-ups you can tolerate. Remember that each person you save from wrongful imprisonment could be an innocent, or several, condemned to death.
So all I'm wordily saying is that you have to find a balance. Don't give me this bullcrap line that even one wrongful death is too many. No it isn't. Too many is too many and if we're trying the best we can and the laws are fair, you have to accept that some people are going to get screwed by the process. Argue that the death penalty is cruel or unusual and I may agree but it's not really any less fair than any other punishment.

I haven't got to the "why do bad things happen to religious people survey". I don't think it qualified. Off hand I would have said to each their own karma. For me, I see that happen for everyone. When I was a teen, I committed my greatest crime, digging a deep pit trap at the beach. I also experienced my worst hardship. I was sent to the emergency hospital with an extreme case of poison oak. Turns out that's what I made the cover of the trap with. Now it's more subtle: I saw a kid run 20 feet from her parents then dart back; I saw in me at the moment my looking away before returning my gaze. [It was one of those days I got out of the house and enjoyed getting glowing smiles from scowling or aloof strangers]. Even my cats have karma: two nights ago they chased our neighbors cat under the house; tonight a neighbor boy chased them under the house. Also people get what they want, often including death. But I was still bothered because I knew that that arguement wasn't going to satisfy those who asked about major disastors. Last night I went into a meditation in which I planned to visit some of you then take a quick excursion into the stars. I wasn't getting anywhere so I asked god to show me what I should see. Whew. I got a complete tour of global death & destruction. Pompeii, ebola, droughts & famines, plagues, quakes, hurricanes, I was there. No explanation given. I fell asleep, and when I got up, I figured god does it, I need to know it. At that moment my neighbor say's "she's ready to talk to you dominique", I drifted off again, afraid to imagine what those neighbors spirits know. When I drifted back hesitant to get up, I heard my young neighbor say in a mocking voice "help help i'm in prison" [Radio says: D'Angelo - VooDoo LP]. These are the ones who appear as black hole security guards with fire coronas until I use my eyes. They are the ones who's household loudly cackles when ever my only logical conclusion is they are demons. Likewise the distress there only increases when I try to bless them. When I invite the kids over to make waffles, or talk face to face with the parents, they are sweet. Oppossites attract. The impecably clean have slobs for neighbors, etc. In my case, the purer I become the worse they get. I find it hard to accept that I should accept the middle road on this one, but I did. When I got back from an easter hike at sunset, and the yard was still scattered with easter eggs the church set up in the middle of the night (with a sign that read "for children who live 'here'" ('here' had a cross drawn around it)), the neighbors were wailing on the kids. I was the angriest I'd ever been, & slammed my door. They were silent for the rest of the night. I wouldn't exactly call it wrath, but I'd never before in my life considered sending an energy of punishment. Policies & actions sure. I'm still not willing to concede that there was no alternative, but if nothing else, perhaps the main purpose of this was for me to at least understand your notions of non-rehabilitation. The kids are innocent, regardless of the nature of their souls. I can teach them to love and respect each other, and they learn it. They are different creatures in my company. But, i'm sure if i left them alone, they'd be like their mom's, who are like their mom, who tells me her parents were strict disciplinarian's as well. The kids live in sensory deprivation, with no room to walk to the bathroom when they are asleep. They don't respond to prayer like most things in my life, and there's not enough of me to combat it as a person. I can only hope to reach a high enough plateau in which I can either understand & appreciate it or change it.

Hey Bill, is there any way you can, in addition to the option to block a particular user, have an option to block comments over X lines in length?

anonymous #2 - it's possible, though the number of lines would be an estimate. The width of your browser window affects the number of lines, and I can't know that from my program. Still, I could make a good estimate.

"help, help. I'm being oppressed" - Life of Brian. oops wrong survey.
anonymous#2: The page down after clicking anywhere on the page except a control box (like this text box) moves you screen at a time, then you can use the up/down arrows to refine your position. CTRL-End gets you to the bottom of a page to check the latest comment. If you use the slider control instead there are three ways to use it: the slowest is to click the arrows, faster is clicking the space between the slider which moves a screen at a time, and fastest (though less accurate) is dragging the slider itself (click on the slider, but don't let go till you've moved it where you want). The following tip cracks me up, it's need to be said separates agile minds from those of my esconced students: If your mouse won't reach part of the screen, you can pick up the mouse, reposition it, and continue.
When I try to provide terse responses, I often confuse people and have to further elaborate a paragraph with a page or two. Of course some people here will never get me or care. I am not the only person here who considers SC something deeper than a 'trivial pursuit' game. We are all different here. I am probably the most verbose commentor here.
Your comment is appropriate karma to me for my desire to suggest we limit the number of surveys an individual can produce within a week. (because with my style of answering I don't have time to answer them all). Bill would have to write a filter based on word count of consecutive comments to fufill your goals. I strive to find significance in all words that fall into my life. Since you posted anonymously, you given me little opportunity to psychoanalyze your complaint within the context of your behavior at SC. My diminished apologies therefore for not fully sympathising with and respecting your needs for shorter responses.

Anon #2, Bill -- that might work fine, except for the fact that people might start posting comments a couple of lines long, lots of them until they finish their thought, and that would really piss me off but not nearly as much as the next logical step, which is to limit the number of comments in a row by someone, forcing the verbose people to comment over several other people's comments... but what would really piss me off would be then we can ask for a limit on the number of comments per survey someone can make, which makes surveys less then useful for people trying to talk about something interesting while still allowing the verbose people to break their comments over several surveys. Just half joking here, we've all seen way to many weird things over different media (like Usenet)... I think it's easier to either filter people or skip over their comments manually. Maybe if we had the option to filter comments thru a "dissociated press" or "Zippy the pinhead" filter...

My first day at the census bureau. The winning name was "Yu Huang Mi". Some of the street team I suspected of developing tactics. There were quite a few builings reported as burnt demolished or non residences.

Sure, have a public execution, fudge up like they did in The Green Mile and no one ever wants to witness another one!

only people with sick minds would want to see someone die

If it was someone I really really dont like, other than that, no

Ok, I'll just filter. Bye-bye, KR, and happy ramblings.