Assignment #3: The Believing and Doubting Game

Believe
Although I severely and wholeheartedly disagree with the statements made, there is an alternative side to the argument. First off, the revenue would be the major plus of the spectacle. As he describes, if you take the amount of people in America that are in favor of the death penalty, and charge them anywhere between $25 for bleacher seats and $300 dollars for a ringside view, you would come away with quite a bit of cash. The person being executed would get a cut of this, of course. It could go to whomever he pleases, such as family, the prison in which he was held, charity, and other related venues. Another benefit of making executions public would be discouraging the people watching from committing a crime so heinous that you are being put to death. The pomp and circumstance surrounding the display would also be a plus, with the national anthem, a blessing, and a lavish entrance for the convicted. Maybe this option does have it’s perks, but I feel that it is completely overwhelmed by the negatives.

Doubt
I disagree with Miller's view. Executions are in no way appropriate to be public events. Although a person that has been convicted and is being executed for a capital offense like murder, it is a loss to that person’s family and friends, and should be respected as such. No human being, however gruesome their crime, deserves to be put to death in front of a jeering crowd of spectators. I am personally in favor of the death penalty, but it’s disturbing to me that a person would want to watch this horrible act, especially one completed by an electric chair. How is burning flesh and smoke seem like an appealing entertainment option? The thought of someone singing the national anthem, as if it were a basketball or football game, at someone’s execution is sickening. Someone paying upwards of $200 dollars, as suggested, to one of these events is equally offensive. Just the mere thought of conducting someone’s death in the same manner as a sporting event is completely, morally wrong. It should be a procedure done precisely and accurately so as to inflict the least amount of pain possible, as outlined in federal law. It is a possibility that executioners and those contributing to the act could change the procedure and cause the person pain, to make it more entertaining for the crowd. It is also possible that people who aren’t murderers could consider the act just for 15 minutes of fame. In addition, he discusses a person bringing their children, for “an intense educational experience”. There is a reason that movies in this day and age have ratings, to shield children from things deemed inappropriate for their maturity level. How is this appropriate for a child? To watch, among thousands of people, a person take another human being’s life? Especially by an electric chair. It is completely impertinent. I could go on for hours about how incongruous and abominable this idea is. The bottom line is that a death is something to be made personal and private and it is not right to broadcast it to thousands of people for entertainment purposes.