Killing must be okay, the government does it

Every now and again something happens that stirs the blood. I've just read about one such incident. The state of Ohio has executed Herman Ashworth, convicted of murdering someone else for US$40 in a drunken night gone wrong. Ashworth refused the give mitigating circustances, and would not allow his conviction or sentence to be appealed. He refused these protections because he believed that he deserved to die. And die he did.

There are two small points here. First is that the State is exercising capital punishment. Now, if human and civil rights mean anything, the State should have no authority to carry this out. If someone has the right to life, they have the right to life. Just as pro-life advocates, and GW Bush, announce, we should not be justified in taking another's life for the benefit of others. (Ahem, Iraq War - never mind).

The second is that any soceity that advocates suicide by its inaction is seriously off the rails. I'm no christian scholar, but I know that suicide is pretty high up the list when it comes to cardinal sins. Ashworth refused to seek appeals of mitigating circumstances, and the state went along with that, dispite the fact that he may have been entitled to this. Because the sentence is death, the state has a duty to fight for Ashworth's life - even if he doesn't understand that right. By not forcing him to exercise his rights under the justice system, the justice system fails. Not only has Ohio legalised murder, they have also legalised suicide. Nice one.