Soapbox

I remember hearing about the Oklahoma City bombing while carrying my second child; my oldest a toddler at the time. Looking at my own family, my heart broke in sympathy for the victims and survivors alike. I could not image bearing the weight of their loss.

The enormity of violence, common in so many countries, seemed surreal in America. How any person could cite political beliefs to justify murdering anyone was utterly beyond me.

This morning, Timothy McVeigh was put to death for this crime. The man responsible for killing in protest of the US government's behavior was killed by agents of the US government. Ironically , his sentence more resembles a circle of violence then a form of justice, to say nothing of the media frenzy it created.

True, the actions of McVeigh tore the fabric of countless lives, but his execution cannot undo this damage. Loved ones will not return, sustained injuries will heal no further, and the memories endured by the victims of his terrorism, sadly, will not go away. Reporters have spent the day tossing around terms like closure. McVeigh's execution had nothing to do with closure, as that is a process within the power of the victim's only.

The reasoning used to justify capital punishment is circular. Taking a life is taking a life, no matter how the law categorizes it. Some do not want tax dollars funding the upkeep of violent criminals, but the flip side of this argument is that these same tax dollars should not fund taking the life of prisoners. If the government can opt not to fund abortion services, why does it pay for executions? Who are we to decide if the life of an unborn more valuable than of a prisoner?

Absolutely, there are people so violent, so devoid of any moral conscience, that their presence in society is a clear danger, but they are still human beings. One woman interviewed on NPR this weekend put it well. In the coverage of this tradgedy, McVeigh has been stripped of his humanity. No one disputes his actions were reprehensible, but there was more to him than the bombing. He was a human, deserving of punishment for his crime. The question is, who are we as a society to deem taking a life as suitable consequences?

At best, this is a moral dilemna without a single answer. Today's execution did not end the tragedy started six years ago, it just raised the death count by one.

all the best,

Catie

Copyright 2001 WomanLinks.com

About the Author : Catie Hayes is founder/editor of WomanLinks.com; a community of support, spirituality, growth and empowerment for women. She is a freelance writer, the single homeschooling mom of two, and an avid fan of laughter, spontaneous dancing, cats and chocolate (not necessarily in that order).