I didn't become for the death penalty until I placed myself in the mindset of the criminal. That's really all it's about -- mindset. Everyone has heard all the arguments from both sides before, but verbal reasoning does not change anyone's way of thought. It's only after you've decided to accept how other people think and *try* to think as they do that you can fully undertsand their reasoning and make an educated decision as to what you feel is right.

I used to be against it. I used to be very idealistic about a lot of things. The idealistic, moral side of me knew it was wrong, and strongly opposed it. I won't state the reasoning, because it's been stated by others already.

After September 11th, a lot of things changed for me. I sat and reevaluated life. What is was worth, and the many aspects of it. I changed from believing in doing always what was right, to doing what is best, because, as you know, a lot of the time the best thing to do and the right thing to do are not the same.

When scrutonizing the beliefs that you've developed to make sure you still feel as if they are still right in your eyes, sometimes you need to take things to extreme. Kill a murderer? No. Well, how about killing Osama bin Laden? Extremes may affect what you believe.

Life is too complex, and there are more facets to questions such as these than we know and include in our reasoning. Before the 11th, if someone asked me if Hitler deserved to be killed, I would have said no. I had scrutonized my beliefs with extremes -- Hitler -- but something was missing. My beliefs were changed when they were challenged with a real evil, not a theoretical one. I guess because time healed the wounds from the Holocaust and the wounds from the 11th are still healing.

As I began this post, I didn't become for the death penalty until I placed myself in the mindset of the criminal. We all see the good and the bad aspects of Capital Punishment. If I had done something so horrific as murder and was sentenced to death, I would know in my heart that I deserved the consequences. People say they changed in prison. Had time to think. If someone is truly sorry for the things they did, they will accept their punishment and not try to get themselves out of it by telling everyone how much they've changed -- even if they really did. It may not be what's right, but it's sure what's best.

A lot of the time I question the ways of the world. Why are things the way that they are? It's not wrong to question, or to attempt to come to an understanding for yourself, but what I've come to realize is that most of the time, things are the way they are because that's what works best. Other people, just like you, have thought out the same things you're thinking before you ever started, and have come to their decisions. They, like you, wanted what's best, and that's why things are the way they are now. It's important to think, though, because if you can come up with a way for something to be better, you may do the world a great service.

I know I went a little off topic, but I tried keeping it general rather than using specific examples because then this thread would become cluttered with reasoning from many topics rather than the one it's supposed to be about -- Capital Punishment.

Ramzi