Johnny Impact said:
[Kira Must Die said:
]sigh
I really, really don't like the idea of putting these two things in a "which is worse" argument. They're both terrible, terrible crimes in their own way, and shouldn't be compared nor pitted against each other like it's a competition. At the end of the day, nobody wins. No matter what side you choose it doesn't make you look good. It's a pointless argument.
Pretty much this. What are you going to do, congratulate the winner? Develop PSAs to spread the word? I can see it now, "Rape: It's slightly less awful than murder! " The what with the what now?
I'm not sure any action really nears murder. Slightly less awful than murder would be an understatement for most actions. This implies that if it were just a little worse then people would rather be dead than alive.
That just doesn't match the data. Murder is the end-all crime. It's the top watermark. You could potentially include kidnappers that rob their lives in other ways but it all comes down to a significant theft of life at the top. The only real thing you can do to make murder worse is to combine it with other crimes.
So slightly less awful? No, there is a sizable gap between murder and anything else. But as far as our opinion of the people who commit it? Yeah, evil. But it isn't even necessarily permanent damage. Would you rather get raped or have a limb cut off? That's not necessarily permanent damage vs permanent damage. Believe it or not, a lot of people would prefer to deal with moments of suffering and dealing with the psychology of the former than dealing with a life of suffering and dealing with the psychology of the latter.
