an eye for an eye makes the world blind...

an eye for an eye makes the world blind...

i grew up believing in an "eye for an eye". i always envisioned that i would support the death penalty if i was ever personally forced into that terrible position where some person intentionally harmed a loved one. i am still uncertain which path i would take and hopefully i will never be put to the test.
but i do know which path is right.

what kind of society do we live in where we build more prisons than public universities? where people are sent to prison and come out hardened, stigmatized by society, and not rehabilitated?


in the movies it seems the heroes are seeking revenge (or is it justice?) on someone who wronged them. the hero/heroine never kills them. almost every movie has a scene where they catch their nemesis in an opportune moment, defenseless and caught unawares. but they hesitate (the hero is no longer "good" or "just" if they kill them unarmed). even when they get to the final fight scene, the villain is killed by the hero only in self defense or at some point during the fight scene, the villain either 1) falls over the ledge or into the deep hole because the villain cannot hold himself up even when the hero offers a hand; or 2) is pushed during the altercation and falls back or down on some sharp projectile, usually a shard of glass . even in our imagination and art, "goodness" must not be tainted by killing a defenseless man, even in seeking justice.