Life and Death Row - BBC Three
albion-mad-nick
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Anybody watching this? As an opponent of the death penalty, it should be interesting.
But that woman describing the execution to her young daughter was a bit much
But that woman describing the execution to her young daughter was a bit much
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That was horrendous. And not only that, she was basically pushing her into making her think it was the right thing to do. Unbelievable.
I am so glad we are in a civilised enough country that doesn't partake in state-sponsored murder of its own citizens.
The death penalty does not work. It never has and never will.
I agree, this show makes for sad and uncomfortable viewing for me, personally. The program was mentioned on BBC Breakfast this morning and I think they claimed that research shows support for the death penalty here in the UK is growing
I got a bit angry with that woman saying she chose not to show her 'I forgive' sign because she felt he didn't deserve to know that because he hadn't repented at the last moment. Maybe im being really strong or unfair but to me, that says that she didn't really, truly forgive him - forgiveness shouldn't come with caveats or expectations. Either you do or you don't. It just didn't sit right with me but I know that might sound bad and obviously she's been through a horrible ordeal, there's just something disturbing about the way some people seem to see things or whatever...sorry im not good at wording things.
Thankfully I can't see the death penalty ever returning to the UK. I oppose it on two fronts:
1) Capital punishment is murder, and murder is wrong
2) There is always the risk of an innocent person being wrongly executed, just look up the Derek Bentley case.
The death penalty isn't a deterrent at all.
He raped her, he murdered a young man, he shot her in the back trying to kill her. Not because she had harmed him in anyway, but because he chose too.
She didn't owe him forgiveness. I think what she was saying is that if he had asked for forgiveness, she would have given it, but you can't forgive somebody that hasn't asked for it.
Feels more like a Channel 4 documentary, not BBC3
Shame its not free like Channel 4...................:)
Well you can.....
I just feel like, if you forgive someone as in true forgiveness, then there are no conditions, it is just that, forgiveness for whatever was done. Its not like a pawn piece. I realise this sounds very harsh though and I'd never claim to know what she went through. I just get this very unsettling feeling watching and I feel there's something eery and not quite right about how people are dealing with such an artificial situation (it seems rather artificial with the viewing booths and executions).
I certainly don't think that it hurt him to not hear her (or read her) say that she forgave him but I wonder if it would have helped her heal in some small way, if she had have chose to show the sign anyway? I don't know. I suppose she'd argue that it was her last chance of control she had with him, to choose not to say, or show, that.
I think this must something that everybody has a different feeling about, because I personally would not be able to even begin to forgive somebody until that had asked for forgiveness, fair enough if you feel differently.
I do see your point absolutely, but I cannot feel any kind of anger toward her, she is the victim in this awful situation.
I think getting a young child so deeply involved in it was wrong though.
That's interesting. What about if your thinking about someone who bullied you at school then, for example. Someone who you may have not heard from in decades, someone who you might not know even what county they live in, to get in touch and talk about it...can't you still make a conscious decision one day that you want to let go of the hurt and upset those memories give you and choose to forgive that person for what they did to you? in doing so, often people would say its a way of letting yourself move on and heal in a way but it seems others use it as some kind of bargaining chip, like I'll only give you what I might perceive as peace of mind, if you really ask for it. Thats not what my perception of forgiveness is about, its about allowing yourself to move on and heal, not offer back to the person who caused the hurt...
If that makes any sense whatsoever?
I think she meant that she had forgiven him but it was whether or not he deserved to know it.
And by him not asking for forgiveness it showed he didn't really care. So although she has forgiven him she didn't feel he deserved to know/be at peace with what he'd done.
I agree with other posters it was weird the way her kid was saying "when Richard......" talking about the execution. Kind of disturbing.
That makes a bit more sense I suppose, thanks.
Its hard for young children to fully understand the implications of something like the death penalty. I know as a toddler the idea of death itself confused me/didn't really sink in for quite some time.
Okay, so in certain situations I may be able to forgive a wrong deed, even if my forgiveness hadn't been asked for.
But only in certain situations.
When people say that you need to forgive to move on, I don't agree with that at all.
I suppose it depends on how you mentally deal with traumatic events. Personally, I'm not sure how you can truly move on from something without having some element of forgiveness. Having said that, I still get wound up about stupid things I did, I still tend to analyse the past a fair bit so maybe I need to forgive myself(!). Ugh, complicated stuff.
To me, the it wasn't the ones on Death Row that scared the hell out of me, but those pious, religiously indoctrinated, self-important, right-wing extremists on the other side of the argument.
Killing people is either right or wrong but these idiots think that they can have both. And feel correct by backing it up with quotes from a book of nonsense.