: Furthermore, many - if not most - of the people who end up on death row are victims themselves, of poverty, of racism, of poor education, of child abuse, of sexual assault, of police abuse, of neglect by this society. Where are the institutions that are supposed to take care of these people have fallen through the (very large and getting wider) cracks? Axed to budget cuts, that where. I am not saying that if we only give these murderers a hug, then everything will be ok and all nicey-nice and happy. But I am saying that we have a responsibility to end the cycle in which victim become victimisers. That in the end is the only solution, and if Texas is any indication, the death penalty only *increases* violent crime and murder rates.

: We have to think all these things through, and not react reflexively to things that seem (and are!) horrible, without looking deeper. Isn't that also a theme in Tolkien? Sure Tolkien is all about fighting evil, fighting the "enemy", but it's also about knowing who your enemy is. To go back to the murder in Minas Tirith, who was really more a danger to the city and its people: Beregond, who was an admitted murderer? Or Denethor, who was the lord of the city and who had killed no one?

: This is not an easy issue, but surely we all know what hate and vengeance lead to in Tolkien world. The question then is: Can Tolkien teach us anything about our own?

: Yours in thoughtfulness,

: Dave C-Q

: P.S. About the facsist label. I don't like bandying it about freely. Mostly because the situation doesn't call for it. Nazis/facsists are a certain, specific type of right-wing political extremist who need to be confronted and fought (like the KKK, or the National Front in France, or the British National Party). From what I've read here, nobody has indicated they are fascists, and we should sling mud like that; it only polarizes the debate into name-calling. However, just as an FYI. This debate is really only applicable to Americans. Every other advanced country (i.e., not developing countries) has long since consigned the death penalty to the dustbin of history. I don't know where Hugh Toner is from, but his attitude seems very European to me - dismissing the whole thing as barbaric and wondering what the fuss is all about. In those countries, it is usually only fascists that call for a reinstatement of the death penalty, though some mainstream conservatives have done so as well. (Just an FYI for some context.)

Nicely said, that's exactly what I was alluding to.
As to the fascist bit, may I say to my own justification, that I too think this word must be treated with care, and now as an afterthought, I shouldn't have used it so bluntly. What needs to be said, however, is that facism is not just about little men in moustaches, but is a general label for the philosophy (if you can call it such), that the value of the individual is utterly worthless in the face of the value of the society/nation etc. (originally, I believe, it meant 'banding together'). This train of thought justifies slavery, eugenics, or merely eliminating people because they are an embarassment to society. In this respect, Stalinist Russia was fascist, and Mordor was also a fascist society.