The Case of Troy Davis

[kandrathe]

... 'some actions are just too evil to allow a lesser punishment' -- My thinking is called 'old time', this reason is 'ancient time'. Archaic. Barbaric. Based on revenge. Based on the efficiency common in ancient times and archaic societies, where punishment was/is terminal, if only for the reason of no available alternative. Further 'just too evil' is in no way logical, and depends heavily on who defines evil, and how. It is emotional nonsense, at best.

I'll grab that one, because it sounds like my position. A synonym for "Evil" or its moral equivalent exists whether you are theistic, or atheistic. You might choose a different word with less religious connotation, such as "morally reprehensible", "horrible" or my favorite "heinous". I would define certain especially horrible crimes as possibly divorcing a person from their right to exist. They would include people like Larry Singleton, the serial killing rapist who snatched the 14 year old Las Vegas girl, raped her, chopped off her arms with an axe and left her for dead. I'm particularly angered by crimes against children, serial killers, and those that torture or mutilate their victims (esp. while alive).

See, that is the 'inside point of view' I've referred to earlier. All the 'all men', 'we' and 'us' stuff seems to mean US citizens primarily, or even solely. This is thinking similar to Ancient Greek democracy. So far I've seen mentioned (US-)citizens, legal residents, non-citizens (maybe synonym to humans), animals, and property as a ranking of possible targets for crime.
Modern thinking puts 'human' at the ranking's pole position.

While I have an opinion about what is right for other nations, I respect the rights of other nation's citizens to establish their own form of government. Just as within the republic of the US, each state has a different constitution and a different set of community standard on what is or is not permitted. It is that whole "consent of the governed" idea again.

Otherwise any other country is entitled to have its own inside point of view, and this may noticeably differ from yours. Starting with, but not restricted to, own definitions of 'all men', 'we', and 'us'. Surely extending to the definition of 'capital crime'.

That is entirely true. I find middle eastern justice barbaric, but then I have little to say about it unless they want to lead the human rights commission at the UN. It matters very little, unless our societies must commingle.

it may be my poor English, but this 'bestowed upon us' sounds pretty much like all other religious we-are-the-chosen-ones brabble, especially when one has 'God's own country' additionally in mind. Claiming superiority by some 'natural law' is no different to claiming it by any god's will.

You've stated you believe you have the right to live. Why? Are you alive by the good graces of your nations leaders? Natural law, and rights are a mechanism of thought brought to us by ancient Greek philosophy (Socrates, Aristotle). Natural law and natural rights follow from the nature of man and the world. We have the right to defend ourselves and our property, because of the kind of animals we are. The true basis of law is derived from this right, not from the arbitrary power of the omnipotent state.