The fact that I might enjoy inflicting GBH on some skag doesn't justify permitting me to do so.
Besides the ever-so-inconvenient possibility that said "skag" might not be actually guilty of something.
The fact that I can get off on something like this doesn't mean it's a good thing to do--it means that I'm a vengeful bitch with a nasty cruel streak. Giving that sort of tendency free rein and justifying it as "for the greater good", or "they asked for it" or "it was cathartic" doesn't really make the world a better place. I know what kind of temper I have. Mme Defarge would look like your Aunt Phoebe, the one who uses the no-kill mouse traps because she's so tender-hearted. Do not give me that excuse, because there are people who are even worse out there, and we'd be more than ready to act under the "he needed killin'" rule.
Experiment: Ask the proponents if they themselves, or a male relative of theirs committed a rape, and was convicted, and the law permitted his victim to kill him by any means they chose, as slowly or as quickly as they liked. Would they still think this sort of torture/death was a good idea, and reasonable to permit, on the grounds that it would discourage others, and help the victim "get over" what had happened.
The fact that it may be common among humans to enjoy taking vengeance as vilely as possible on those they feel have wronged them doesn't make it a good thing. In fact, it's one of the leading causes of social disorder in some countries.
no subject
Besides the ever-so-inconvenient possibility that said "skag" might not be actually guilty of something.
The fact that I can get off on something like this doesn't mean it's a good thing to do--it means that I'm a vengeful bitch with a nasty cruel streak. Giving that sort of tendency free rein and justifying it as "for the greater good", or "they asked for it" or "it was cathartic" doesn't really make the world a better place. I know what kind of temper I have. Mme Defarge would look like your Aunt Phoebe, the one who uses the no-kill mouse traps because she's so tender-hearted. Do not give me that excuse, because there are people who are even worse out there, and we'd be more than ready to act under the "he needed killin'" rule.
Experiment: Ask the proponents if they themselves, or a male relative of theirs committed a rape, and was convicted, and the law permitted his victim to kill him by any means they chose, as slowly or as quickly as they liked. Would they still think this sort of torture/death was a good idea, and reasonable to permit, on the grounds that it would discourage others, and help the victim "get over" what had happened.
The fact that it may be common among humans to enjoy taking vengeance as vilely as possible on those they feel have wronged them doesn't make it a good thing. In fact, it's one of the leading causes of social disorder in some countries.