iron mike I heard yesterday that a poll was taken in Australia and by a narrow majority opinion is they should be spared from the death penalty. But it disturbs me that it was only a narrow majority. I guess we could probably draw a bell curve that would represent the ability of individuals in the Australian population to feel empathy. At the extremes we would find the people that we might consider mentally ill. At one extreme we would have the sociopaths and the narcissists who are incapable of feeling for anyone or for anyone but themselves. At the other extreme we might find people who seem to suffer from anxiety and depression because they feel too much for others. Perhaps a more spiritually enlightened person may recognize these people as intuitives. The rest of us take up the rest of the curve.
I sometimes wonder how the pro deathers might go if they were made to "go through the process" with the person that is to be executed, if they were made to visit regularly with the person in the months leading to their execution and to build a relationship, if they were to hear of extenuating circumstances in the childhood of the condemned, to hear of regrets for the crime committed, to hear of what the condemned would do if they were given another chance at life. Then the prodeathers could be made to sit and watch as the condemned meets with loved ones for the last time. The prodeather could be made to assist the mother of the condemned from the prison, she would probably be collapsed with grief and would need to be carried. Then the prodeather should be made to move with the condemned to the final spot of execution. This way the prodeather could be witness to the gut wrenching wails of fear as the final moments ticked down. They could see and smell as the condemned defecated themselves in fear. The prodeather could watch on unable to do anything as the condemned turned to them and pleaded to them in a last ditched cry for help. The prodeather should be made to watch the act of execution and to witness the lifeless body of the condemned.
Of course all of this is hypothetical and it would never happen but if it did I wonder just how many of our hard ass prodeathers might "learn" empathy. I wonder how many would find it a life changing experience that haunts them forever. I wonder how many of them would say "I didn't get it before. I have changed my mind. We are all worth more than the worst thing we have done and no one should be subjected to such a cruel ending."
