Tuesday 5 May 2015

The death penalty.

At thirteen, my son was introduced to Heroin by trusted adults. That one act was enough to ruin his young life and thus began almost half a century of grief for his family and his friends and a sadness we will carry to our graves.

This week we saw the execution of two people who had organised others to smuggle enough Heroin into this country to ruin many more young lives.
But both of those men changed while in prison to become leaders in constructive ways that offered other prisoners a role model. That loss was only one of many Indonesia will suffer.

We all saw the grief and disbelief on faces of innocent mothers, fathers and siblings as the executions were carried to their grisly end. But that pain was not matched in Australian media by depictions of pain suffered by thousands of Heroin users, as they slowly destroy their lives and degrade the lives of people who care about them.

The plight of Heroin users was the excuse for the executions, but if we demand an 'eye for an eye', as Gandhi said, that just means we will have a lot of blind people. There is no value in a contest to see who suffers the most. This is not about difference, this is about inclusion. If we widen our scope to include the loved ones of all people in jails and detention around the world we see a compelling oneness. All their loved ones grieve for them, the perpetrators just as much as the victims.

But the death penalty adds a dimension that is more cruel to the survivors than it is to those executed. The death penalty destroys that one emotion that keeps us going against all odds, and that is hope.


Pic: courtesy Daily News.

12 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks. That eye for an eye mentality runs deep, unfortunately. Sometimes, a question is better than a reaction.

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  2. Wow, beautifully written Stafford and I agree totally. I felt so sad for the mother and other relatives :(

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    1. Hi GB, tried to get to comment on your Autism/bleach piece, couldn't find the button. :-( Anyway, there is no point arguing with the them, it is a religion.

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    2. I deliberately wouldn't allow comments on that piece for that very reason - it is like a radical religion and unfortunately many of the mothers I used to know in Brisbane are still following the biomedical path and there is no changing their minds - drives me nuts! I wrote that blog post specifically so that at least some of them (if they read it) will know how I feel at least.

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    3. And showing how you feel is important, otherwise it is assumed nobody disagrees. You of all people need to know the truth because of Michael. If only a longitudinal study could be done to map the outcomes. Perhaps there is/was one that included the hocus pocus to settle the question. You would know that too, I guess. Meanwhile, maintain the rage.

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  3. It will be interesting to see if the death penalty is handed down in the Boston Marathon bombing ...

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    1. Yes it will. Research shows that states that have the death penalty also have more murders. I hope that is the order of events and not that states that have more murders have more executions, but researchers are sure it is less bloodthirsty administration that encourage a less violent society.

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  4. I am sorry that you went through so much pain with your son. The next one to go will be the British grand mother who has now apparently accepted her fate.

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    1. Thanks Bee, We all go through the pain of loss but some losses are so unnecessary and all the more painful for it.

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  5. your son deserved a better world. I've often thought of what your family and your son especially endured. Very sad. Well said.

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