An Open Letter to Political Pundits: Convicts != Fetuses != Animals

[rowyn]

What is with this whole soundbite rhetorical argument that, somehow, one's position on the death penalty needs to be aligned with one's position on abortion and/or hunting? Is it so hard to imagine that one could believe that convicted criminals, fetuses, and wild animals are not, in fact, identical creatures and should not, therefore, be treated as though they were? I am so sick of hearing "how can she be pro-life and yet favor the death penalty?" or "how can he allow the murder of unborn children and yet oppose the execution of hardened killers?" Neither one of these positions is ethically inconsistent. They just require a marginally nuanced version of the world that does not do things like, oh, group frogs and plants in the same family because they're both green. No one over the age of ten is going to change their position on any of these things based on this line of argument. Please, stop. Thank you.

Comments

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, and coincidentally, just a few minutes ago, I read an article from Ted Rall in which he is for mandated abortion in cases such as Bristol Palin's. Not that this in any way reflects on anyone else, since I'm not really sure what sort of public-opinion bloc Ted Rall "represents" anyway.

I wouldn't accuse him of being morally or logically inconsistent on this, either, or suggest that he hasn't put any thought into his viewpoints. But I can see him as being internally consistent, I can understand that there are likely many others who would come to the same logical conclusion based on their assumptions and values, and yet I can still be very confident that it would be a terrible thing if he were to have his way.

[rowyn]

I'm not really sure what sort of public-opinion bloc Ted Rall "represents" anyway.

I sincerely hope he doesn't represent anyone other than himself. O_O It's like seeing a net.bastard given his own platform in mainstream media. A world-class cretin, and not just for his repugnant ideas on what behaviors should be legislated away.