Poll: Are murderers forgivable?

[Rabid Chipmunk]

Technically any crime is forgivable. It just depends on who is being asked to grant forgiveness.

No matter how terrible the murder or what circumstances it's performed in, I believe it's good to forgive. For the victim's family and friends' sake, not the murderer's, though. If he is truly repentant and wants forgiveness and the family forgives him, then good. If the murderer doesn't, it's still healthy for the family to forgive him so they can at least try to move on with their lives.

I do not, however, support vigilantism (It's OK if I kill this person, because they had it coming). First of all, I believe just about everyone deserves a second chance (I said just about, don't start giving me examples of those who don't), and justifying vigilantism can start us down a slippery slope.

 

[magnuslion]

Hitler murdered a lot of people.
Can we stop a lot of murdering by trying murdering him?
If yes, then it justify murdering him.

Jew here.

No, your logic is flawed. The only way to be able to do what you have posited is to have known before hand that Hitler was going to do what he did, or perhaps to travel back in time. either way, unlikely.

I believe that the only justification for killing, at all, is in defense of your own life ro the lives of others, and even that only when it is absolutely necessary. I would not have killed Hitler, I would have captured him and left him to rot in a prison for the rest of his miserable existence. When you give in to vengeful thoughts, and say that you can justify killing because of someones actions or behavior, you sink to their level. I am against capital punishment because the idea of "If you kill someone, we will kill you back" is so utterly ridiculous and juvenile that any rational person should reject it. That is the mentality of a fucking third grader.

 

[Custard_Angel]

Murder isn't a nice thing to do, but everyone should have the ability to turn their life around and receive forgiveness.

If things are done correctly there should be 10-20 years or so for the murderer to attain forgiveness, but there we go.

 

[Crash 9000]

As everyone else has said you really cant just make a blanket statement that murder is so cut and dry.
Reasons do matter. As someone has already said, killing a child rapist is totally justified. Hell not just justified but something to be proud of.
So unless you know the exact circumstances of each case then its impossible to judge.

So, killing a child-rapist is awesome, regardless. But it's impossible to judge whether murder can be forgiven unless the exact circumstances are known? Okay then... do you know the definition of "exact" and "circumstances"?

And since when can a punishment be more excessive than the crime(s)? How is that justifiable?
Sure, rape is bad, and child-rape is doubly bad, but wouldn't execution (even legally sentenced) be a little extreme and even a crime itself?

 

[Farther than stars]

Well, part of my faith as a Christian is to forgive everyone's sinful actions, since we aren't entitled to judge others out of our own anger (that being just as wrong as any sinful act commited). After all, nobody murders randomly. Any crimes commited against human nature often stem from disturbed souls and troubled roots. And that's not necessarily always the perpetrator's fault.

 

[matrix guardian]

I think that anyone is forgivable. Forgiveness is more about the capacity of the forgiver than about what the other person did. It's about what happens within YOU, freeing yourself from the resentment and hate attached to that situation. To choose not to forgive is to hold on to and carry around that resentment for the rest of you life, letting it fester inside you. Anyone can be forgiven. It's just a matter of being willing to let go, accept it, and move past it. If someone I loved was murdered, it would be very hard to forgive them. But I sure hope that I would eventually forgive them. That's the kind of person I want to be. I wouldn't want to carry around all that toxic hateful baggage around in my life.

And also, apart from my views on forgiveness, I also believe in people's capacity for change. I've seen it. I know a guy who used to be a drug dealer, into gangs and stuff, shot a few people in his day. Some real bad shit. And I have seen his transformation over time. That is not the man he is today. He is a totally changed man now. He is a really great guy, and I would trust him with my life. And a very important part of that transformation was the support of people who believed he could change. I don't know if that kind of change would have been possible if everyone had just given up on him as "unforgivable." People can change. And real positive change needs positive support from others.

TL;DR So basically, whether or not someone is "forgivable" is about YOU, not about them.

 

[Romidude]

Soldiers who accidentally kill civilians are forgiven so yes.

In this day and age, it isn't accidental anymore :l (Ex: Kill Team)

OT: Emotionally: Possibly.
Legally: No.

 

[Dimitriov]

It is completely forgivable, dependent on who they murdered and why.


Murdered a child? Hell no, hang them.

Murdered someone who had it coming? Absolutely forgive them, indeed they may have my praise.

 

[staika]

It depends on the situation, if someone killed to save someone then I can forgive but if they killed out of greed, lust, or something like that then no you deserve nothing.

 

[dystopiaINC]

all depends on who and why to be honest

who?an innocent bystander? a soldier in the heat of battle? an evil person? makes a difference.

why? self defense? protecting an innocent? accident? heat of the moment? cold and calculated?

 

[Jake the Snake]

I think it's interesting that intellectually I acknowledge that the unnatural act of ending another human being's life should always be considered inherently wrong. Unfortunately this concept really only holds water if nobody ever killed anybody. Sadly, this not the case.

There are some truly evil people in this world. While I don't think killing them out of a sense of revenge is right (intellectually anyway), I have to admit, the world would most definitely be a better place had they not been in it (eg: Hitler, John Wayne Gacy, The Shankhill Butchers, etc.).

If the killing is in GENUINE self defense, or is genuinely accidental, then of course that should be forgiven.


But I think whenever we can, we should prove to scum of the world we will not stoop to their level of simply killing them. No, I feel breaking their spirit and detaining them for the rest of their lives in solitary is a far harsher and ironically considered a more "humane" approach. When you become a murderer, you forfeit your right to be treated like a human being.

 

[The Shade]

Just give me any thoughts you have. Personally, I hold to the idea that any act is forgivable, with the exception of first degree murder. To me, once you kill someone else, planned it out and executed them, you have crossed the line between human and monster.

What if it was 1940, and we spent a lot of time and money organizing and carrying out an assassination of Hitler? Are we still monsters?

 

[Thundero13]

Ok first may I say, everything is forgivable, forgiveness doesn't mean letting someone off the hook after all, anyway in answer to what you're actually asking i'll stop being so padantic
If you plan out and carry a murder as you said then no it isn't 'forgivable' but often a murder is just done without thinking, in which case it's still awful but it is 'forgivable', the person who commited it should still receive jail time and help and it doesn't condone what they did but it's at least understandable
...
I'm not great at wording things sorry, I hope you can understand what i'm trying to say

 

[retyopy]

Just give me any thoughts you have. Personally, I hold to the idea that any act is forgivable, with the exception of first degree murder. To me, once you kill someone else, planned it out and executed them, you have crossed the line between human and monster.

What if it was 1940, and we spent a lot of time and money organizing and carrying out an assassination of Hitler? Are we still monsters?

No. Hitler was also a murderer, or at least he set up quite a few murders, and thus he is a monster as well. And killing a monster is fine by my watch.

 

[The Shade]

Just give me any thoughts you have. Personally, I hold to the idea that any act is forgivable, with the exception of first degree murder. To me, once you kill someone else, planned it out and executed them, you have crossed the line between human and monster.

What if it was 1940, and we spent a lot of time and money organizing and carrying out an assassination of Hitler? Are we still monsters?

No. Hitler was also a murderer, or at least he set up quite a few murders, and thus he is a monster as well. And killing a monster is fine by my watch.

So murder is okay, as long as the person you're murdering is also a murderer? And then it's okay for someone to come along and murder you right back.
This seems like it would very quickly spiral out of control.

 

[LordRoyal]

Better question, can murderers forgive themselves

 

[retyopy]

Just give me any thoughts you have. Personally, I hold to the idea that any act is forgivable, with the exception of first degree murder. To me, once you kill someone else, planned it out and executed them, you have crossed the line between human and monster.

What if it was 1940, and we spent a lot of time and money organizing and carrying out an assassination of Hitler? Are we still monsters?

No. Hitler was also a murderer, or at least he set up quite a few murders, and thus he is a monster as well. And killing a monster is fine by my watch.

So murder is okay, as long as the person you're murdering is also a murderer? And then it's okay for someone to come along and murder you right back.
This seems like it would very quickly spiral out of control.

I never said that. Murder is killing in cold blood, and if you do that, you have to be seperated from society, perhaps by being killed. I don't like killing iin any form, but if it must be done, it must be done. Hitler, however, was someone who didn't deserve to live. eleven million overall murders, buddy. He's an extreme, and you should never use extemes as an example. If it were up to me, murderers would be kept in cells for the rest of their lives, and if neccesary, killed as humaneley as possible.

 

[Flight]

I believe whether the murder in question is forgivable largely depends on the circumstances surrounding the act.

 

[Sinspiration]

I know only this much. There's only one person who'll never be able to forgive a murderer without paranormal intervention.

And that would be the one they murdered.

 

[retyopy]

I know only this much. There's only one person who'll never be able to forgive a murderer without paranormal intervention.

And that would be the one they murdered.

Well put, well put indeed. But they're dead, so it doesn't matter, does it?