Thoughts on Saddam's execution

 

I felt kind of sick for a moment when I saw this after watching It's a Wonderful Life for the first time. I don't doubt Saddam did many horrible things, but killing a human being when he's no longer a threat to anyone just isn't right. Had he killed someone I loved, I may very well feel different. Emotion, however, should not be the decider in matters such as this. The heart is a deceiver. Reason should always overrule passion in matters of such weight. Of course I realize that emotion, when it flares, is far more powerful than reason, but if we truly desire to become more moral, civilized beings, we must endeavor to let our reason check our passion.

Revenge is truly sweet. Psychologists believe they have proven that by conducting studies in which the pleasure center of the brain is activated when a test subject "gets revenge" on someone in role-playing scenarios. As Seth once said, however, the desire for revenge is a characteristic mankind would be better off without. If it is indeed a pleasure, it is a savage pleasure. To seek revenge is to feed such emotions as anger, hate, and bitterness. These are emotions which man should seek to eliminate, not feed. We must be better than those who wrong us. I don't know if I go so far as Christ in saying to love your enemy, but I believe it is proper to pity your enemy (and I wonder if that's what Christ really meant), and I agree with him that we should strive to forgive those who trespass against us.

Revenge is all Saddam's execution represented, not justice. Justice, I believe, consists in making a victim whole again. If I steal $1,000 from someone, justice occurs when I'm forced to return the $1,000, perhaps with a little interest. While pure justice cannot be achieved in the case of murder since the victim cannot be brought back to life, it is the case that some degree of justice can be achieved. For instance, the murderer can be made to work and pay restitution to the family of the victim in return for the lost wages the victim will no longer be providing his family. That's not full justice, but at least it's something. It won't heal the family's broken hearts, but it will provide them some measure of financial security and well-being.
If the murderer is killed, however, the family gains nothing and loses a great deal.

Let us therefore strive for justice in such cases, not revenge. Let us seek, if not to love those who trespass against us, to at least pity them and show them mercy and forgive them rather than letting hate consume us.

Peace be unto us all.