So Has Justice been done?

“There are no two minds – one good and the other evil; the mind is only ONE. It is the residual impressions that are of two kinds – auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of the auspicious impressions it is GOOD and when it is under the influence of the inauspicious impressions it is regarded as EVIL."

                                                                          "Who Am I?" the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

Today marks exactly one month since, Osama bin Laden, hunted and touted as the mastermind behind the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, has been killed.

The president, Obama called the killing of bin Laden the "most significant achievement to date" in the effort to defeat al Qaeda. "Justice has been done," He said. My question is “Has it?”

While I agree he has killed or rather massacred so many many innocent people. He honed his deadly skills to target United States civilians as part of a "holy war". But killing someone, I am sure that is not the Answer! If all of us begin to start supporting the Eye for an eye, tooth or a tooth ideology, Where is progess? Surely we civilised people CAN think of other ways to make a criminial mind pay, isnt it?

I for one am completely against Death penalty! No I don’t feel sorry for the these criminals or whatever you may call them. What I do, is feel strongly about taking things into our hands and ENDING a life that quite obviously we have NO way to create! How can we destroy, put an end to a human life, or rather any Life for that matter! In doing so, aren’t we also stooping to the same level as the person in front of us? What exactly is the PURPOSE of Death penalty??

• To remove from society someone who would cause MORE harm? 
• To remove from society someone who is INCAPABLE of rehabilitation? 
• To deter OTHERS from committing murder?
• To PUNISH the criminal?
• To take retribution ON BEHALF of the victim?

What is IT?

While I know executions may be on the decline, a large number of countries, including the USA still continue to pass death sentences for drug-related offences, economic crimes, sexual relations between consenting adults, and blasphemy even - violating international human rights law forbidding the use of the death penalty except for the most serious crimes!! Now I have two questions!

       a) Is Execution the Only way?

       b) Who decides what how SERIOUS is serious?

Even though tearing someone’s limbs apart by horses seems repulsively surreal today, modern methods of execution aren’t always much less barbaric. In America, they still use the electric chair, gas chamber and even a firing squad on occasion. So is the case in Saudi Arabia... In many states they utilize lethal injection to carry out capital punishment! Which is basically injected into the criminal’s veins, in turn relaxing his muscles, reducing blood circulation, and eventually stopping the HEART! All this while the person is in excruciating pain, but paralyzed so he/she cannot even call out for help! Are we so barbaric? In the case of Osama, he had his brains exploded out of his Head! I know what he did but that doesn’t take away what WE did as well!

It does seem odd, though, that instead of focusing on the fact that the governments are killing someone, and I for one am are focusing on how it has been done.

But can’t we concentrate more other forms of punishments? Like say Solitary confinement?

With what little I know, I vote for Solitary confinement! Instead of Killing the person and putting an END to his Life, can we not dictate the rest of his life, take away everyone and everything from him, give him the time to think, and reflect upon his actions and in turn beg for forgiveness for His/Her hideous crimes and give them an opportunity to change! I mean what better punishment for Someone like Osama, who relished the power of Being in CONTROL, than to take away that very right!

How much can it really matter when the end result is still the same — death? What matters is whether WE choose to bloody our hands as well with someone’s life or rather give an opportunity for the guilty person to Recollect, Reflect, Regret and Repent!

As an Example, Mr. Williams, an author and Nobel Peace and Literature Prizes nominee who was put to death on December 13, 2005 by lethal injection by the state of California… He was convicted of four murders committed in 1979, and sentenced to death. Williams professed innocence of these crimes. He was also co-founder of the Crips, a deadly and powerful Los Angeles-based street gang responsible for hundreds of murders.

But what is interesting is that about five years after incarceration, Mr. Williams underwent a religious conversion and, as a result, authored many books and programs to promote peace and to fight gangs and gang violence. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize and four times for the Nobel Literature Prize!!!

Mr. Williams' was a self-admitted life of crime and violence, followed by genuine redemption and a life of uniquely and unusually good works. While the circumstantial evidence against Williams left little doubt that he committed the four murders, we also know that HE posed no further threat to society, and would contribute considerable good!! Yet he was put to death! Argh... Saying that itself makes me want to throw up! What I want to explain from this example is exactly what I wrote in the beginning, No one is Good or Bad… there are only good thoughts and bad thoughts…. Osama, and Mr. Williams were under Bad thoughts and therefore acted evil… But where do I place US? We the self proclaimed GOOD people who go about killing the BAD ones? There is always a choice; it’s up to us how we want to do things!

A world free of the death penalty, executions and Killing is not only possible, it is definitely foreseeable… I wonder how long will it take?