I had a quick scan of the blogs yesterday concerning the now notorious case of Nyugen Van, and opinion seems pretty much divided. Perhaps this reflects the recent poll (SMH) that showed that 47% approved of the state execution of the young man, astonishing if you ask me. Approved of! So many rednecks still in my own country! And to think that even the conservative Prime Minister of this country opposes capital punishment! How he must rub his hands at the prospect of wooing all those ignoramuses.
One site in particular grabbed me. I won't give it the oxygen of publicity (to quote Mrs Thatcher) but it was located in Queensland (for US readers, think Arkansas, Tennesee etc.). The author seemed still lost in the Soviet era, as he proudly displayed some witless anti-communist propaganda, alongside the predictable diatribe in favour of death sentencing. This was nobly topped off with an attack on Christianity and then an appeal to the spirit of the Enlightenment. He seemed blissfully unaware of the superb contradictions, all within a breath of each other.
Perhaps I'm a little too ascerbic. But life and death are serious matters, are they not? And snuffing out a life in an opinion poll strikes me as seriously deficient behaviour.
So remember, (as I often remind myself) , 'There but for the grace of God go I'
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