After class and a very heated, discussion about CP I went upstairs to find Cassidy. I went into Heidi's class and she wasn't there, then I went into the younger group and she wasn't there. So I went back to Heidi's class and then outside to ask a mom if she had seen her. Nope. My heart jumped into my throat and I started asking for help and tried to keep myself under control. I went into one last classroom and there she was, but my emotions were close to the surface. She ran up to me and hugged me and I tried to pull myself together.
Anyway, all of that background was for this moment we had when we came home from school. She and I went out back to throw the ball for Lolly and we were watching Lolly run and not saying much. Finally I said, "Caz, I think you want to talk with me about something. Is something on your mind?" I was expecting her to talk about our yesterday's disagreement or something and she actually laughed and said, "Welllllll, I reallly think it's sooo interesting how the snow melts sooooo fassttt!! I mean, like, one minute there are piles of it everywhere, and three minutes later it's all melting!"
She was so cute and carefree and smiley and I realized that I had been worried all day and night about her having hard feelings and she had forgotten about our troubles and was pondering on the melting snow.
Love her. Want to be more like her.
Like.
ReplyDeleteAnd I want to hear more about the CP discussion.
Sean was the perpetrator (he hated it!). The final verdict was 13 for NO CP and 8 for it. One of the moms in our class actually had her grandparents brutally murdered and they went through the process. The guy did not get the death penalty, but took his own life in prison. At the very end, after sharing her story, several of the kids who were initially against CP changed their minds, and also after being asked the question, "What choice of punishment would you choose for Hitler?", several more. There was a lot of peer pressure, though. Our friend who led the debate is very pro-CP and he was very persuasive (he has been police chief and has seen some terrible things). I didn't know I would be defending Sean in front of the class until we got there, but that is the position I am most comfortable with. Despite his persuasive remarks and without any preparation, I think I held my own. "Would you lethally inject this man yourself? Would you pull the trigger of a gun held to his head? Would you ask your government to do what you would not do yourself?" There were only 4 of us who did not raise our hands to give Hitler CP. Although I lean that direction, I am conflicted. I do feel as though CP would be just in some cases (and possibly relieving/merciful to the person who committed the crime). The other arguments for CP do not stand up in my mind against the final statement I gave above. In my (minimal) research I came across one quote that struck me more deeply than any other pro-CP statement. IT is this: "The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendent as a free moral actor able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not treat him as an animal with no moral sense." Bruce Fein, JD constitutional lawyer and General Counsel to the Center for Law and Accountability. Also, when putting a "price" on a crime, and that crime is murder, it seems logical that the punishment fit the crime. But that returns me to the question: who carries out the punishment, and I cannot ask another man or government to do what I will not do myself. (Fredric Bastiat) Blah blah blah. i am so wishy washy.
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