NOT A SHRED OF DECENCY

Growing up in the 1950s was totally different than life today. Perhaps
the word 'quaint' best describes it. The family unit prevailed, you
rarely saw a single parent household. Family values ruled the day. You
were taught decency and respect as well as the value of human life.

In school, history was taught with an emphasis on preventing society
from making or repeating the mistakes of the past. We were shown the
violent and barbaric nature of man. How terrible it was that the Romans
threw their slaves and criminals into the lion pit! How men were pitted
against each other until death. Then there were the Crusades, the
religious wars, the World Wars, and so many other crises involving
senseless acts of death and violence. The misery and madness visited
upon mankind! The hangings, the firing squads, the guillotine. All these
gruesome examples from the past to teach us a lesson. Most certainly
such teaching was not intended to instil in us a predilection for such
blood letting.

Over the years I have found that very little ever changes in this world.
We are guilty in this society of allowing history to repeat itself.
Technology allows us efficiently to kill more than ever before. We use
drones, and drop laser-guided bombs. It is one big video game. As
technology becomes more sophisticated, our standards of decency
decrease, and our enemies become faceless. However, when it comes to
executions, we prefer to relish them in the "old-fashioned" way.

Why is it that we allow our executions to be a throw back to our more
barbaric days? Look at how we still execute our own - we hang them, we
shoot them, we gas them and we electrocute them. We also poison people,
but it appears that this is the least preferred method. With our
increased thirst for retribution and vengeance, we demand more bang for
our bucks. After all, we deserve it, don't we? We don't want to be
cheated, we want our full pound of flesh. To make certain of this, we
legislate new laws to hasten the demise of those we consider to be
"expendable and worthless" members of our society. Oh how we love our
blood sport! Not much has changed.

If you doubt me, just look at the recent developments in Florida. How
many times does "Old Sparky" have to malfunction and produce flaming
heads and nose bleeds before it is stopped? Instead of feeling shame for
these grotesque displays of cruelty, the politicians remain true to form
by feeding on the frenzy of the populace in Florida. They grab the
spotlight by bragging that these malfunctions possibly await anyone who
commits murder in their state. That you just may die in a similar
excruciatingly horrible and painful manner. A singular lack of human
decency is manifested in my view.

Recently, when Lee "Tiny" Davis was executed in the Florida electric
chair he bled so much from the nose that his shirt was covered with
large blood stains. Florida had recently declared that malfunctions in
the past did not signify that the use of "Old Sparky was a cruel and
unusual punishment. Such was the outrage experienced by Florida Supreme
Court justice Leander Smith at witnessing yet another display of what he
construed to be barbaric cruelty that he posted three photographs of the
dead Davis strapped in the electric chair with blood all over his chest
as proof of how Davis was "brutally tortured to death". Smith wanted to
show the indecency of it all.

People were furious and upset about the posting of the execution
photographs, but not for the reasons Smith figured. It was not because
the photos showed such a gross spectacle of a horribly botched
execution, rather they were upset because only three photos were posted!
They were demanding that more photos be displayed. A lack of decency,
yes, but even more troubling is the underlying sickness of a once proud
society. One woman emailed the court to say how "wonderful" the photos
were. One can only deduce that we are obsessed with our bloodsport. As
if it is our God-given right to inflict as much gore, pain and suffering
on this disposable segment of society that we classify as being "the
monsters of death row". It is as if a feeding frenzy exists that thrives
on the barbarism of botched executions. The greater the pain and
spectacle produced, the more they love it.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, not much changes over the
centuries and we learn little from the lessons of the past. We kill in
the name of law and order at the price of forfeiting our decency. After
all, someone has to pay for the ills of society. At the same time we can
not figure out why our kids are taking guns to school and killing so
many of themselves. Can it be that we teach our youth through executions
that human life has little value and that decency does not matter?
I think so.