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An eye for an eye …

A few months ago, I was involved in a discussion in Katie’s forum, regarding the execution of Timothy McVeigh. The arguments for an against captial punishment were rampant, everyone having an opinion. My stance favoring execution under special circumstances, many others feeling that execution should never be an option, some even stating that an eye for an eye is never right.

So, here we are a few months later and now instead of one man bombing one building, we have roughly 19 men bombing three buildings and destroying four planes. Different times, different people, different weapons, but all the same in every other way, in my opinion.

As I read some comments by those same people now, I find it amazing that their opinions are no longer the same, and I wonder why. I STILL feel the same way I did a few months ago. I took a stand and still feel the same way, while others took a different stand and suddenly shift their opinion in the wake of the recent events. As I continue to read, it amazes me that a person that was against any sort of punishment for Timothy McVeigh, now favors some kind of retaliation against the people that created the events of the last week.

In my opinion, there are leaders and followers in this world. There are people that can take a stance and stick with it, regardless of whether its a popular opinion or not. These people feel strongly about an issue and never waiver. They dont need to be a part of the in crowd, because they ARE the in crowd. They lead it. There are also the followers. They take a stance because it’s popular, because it seems like it’s the right thing to say at the time. They are willing to change their stance depending on the circumstances at the time. They do what others are doing because it seems like the right thing to do, at the time.

When I was arguing for the death penalty, one thing I wrote was that those against it would feel differently once they’d lost someone. People responded to me by saying that they’d never feel like killing a killer was the right thing to have happen, yet a few months later, here we stand, and I read those same people writing about retaliation.

What difference does it make? Is it because Timothy McVeigh was an American and these are foreigners. Is it because McVeigh was one man, while these are mulitple people. Is it because McVeigh blew up one building while these blew up many. How many people have to die before it’s okay. In that forum, I read how McVeigh had “the balls” to do something about his feelings against the government, how he had something to say and that the only way he could get someone to listen was to blow up the building. How do you feel now. These people also wanted to be heard and to express an opinion. Now we have thousands of people dead over it. How is this different?

I hope each of you will look deep within yourselves and finally stand up for what you believe in. Don’t be a follower, agreeing with others because you think it sounds like the cool things to say. Be a leader and come up with your own decisions, follow your heart and say what you feel. Next time you argue to save someone like Timothy McVeigh, think about what you are feeling right now and how hypocritical it truly is to want to save one but then turn around and kill others.

Here is something I wrote about the McVeigh situation back in June. I still stand by my feelings. Do you?

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