THE EXECUTION OF TIMOTHY MCVEIGH

Victor Bloom MD

The impending execution of Timothy McVeigh fires the ongoing controversy raging about the death penalty. The country is divided on it, with most of us saying it's OK, it's a good thing, it's The Law, it's 'justice.' There's a long history of the human condition in which it was taken for granted that you put your life in jeopardy by taking a life. Outside of the exigencies of war and the necessity of self-defense, you simply should not get away with murder. The reasoning is that if people thought they could get away with murder, there would be many more murders, more than society could or would tolerate.

Then as now, the powers-that-be make the laws and enforce them.Omega Constellation Replica Watches Death was the consequence of a wide variety of crimes--- being a heretic or an infidel you could be burnt at the stake. For being in the wrong class or against the government you could face the guillotine. If death was not enough, you could be drawn and quartered or boiled in oil. A very famous rabbi was crucified for being a potential threat to Roman rule. The existing government had punishments, deterrents for challenging the status quo.

Only a hundred years ago or so, there were public hangings in England, punishment for pick-pockets who were caught. Interestingly, in the crowd that came to watch, because public hangings were high drama then, pick-pockets were still active. Only a few were caught and so the public hanging was obviously not a deterrent. The whole idea of the death penalty as a punishment, as a deterrent to further crime, was fixed in the minds of our predecessors. Punishment is an old biblical device--- God Himself used it against the rebellious and disobedient people. Punishment was a 'lesson,' a reason to stop and think, a reason to obey the law, because the alternative may well be the wrath of God.

According to the bible, the people apparently didn't learn the lesson God had in mind from what He did to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, nor the floods and plagues that the wrathful God heaped on His human creations. He created us mortal and fallible, but with the gift of 'free will,' so we could make a choice, exercise our wills and take the consequences. According to Judeo-Christian ancient belief, 'original sin' comes from the earliest disobedience of the word of God, and so He gave us work and pain and shame and a variety of other punishments, which were to be carried down through the generations. That was a big punishment for the crime of giving in to temptation, for eating the forbidden fruit, for wanting forbidden knowledge.

The Christian heritage started with the story of Christ, God coming down to earth to preach in the form of a man, a perfect man, this time eschewing wrath and the pain of punishment, instead being a role-model for forgiveness, mercy, compassion, redemption and salvation. According to this belief system, God is Love and a loving God does not punish in this life. He has what we all want from our parents, unconditional love. According to a controversial passage in scripture, judgment is His, only He who gives life can take a life. In this reasoning, neither Jesus nor Jehovah was against incarceration or torture, just the death penalty.

Many studies by social scientists have demonstrated that in historic as well as in modern times, the death penalty is no deterrent, after all. The obvious example is the United States, which is one of the few modern democracies, which still practices the death penalty and yet boasts the highest murder rate. Another is the fact that contiguous states, one carrying out the death penalty and the other not, did not show a significant statistical difference in their murder rates.

So take for the moment the argument that the death penalty is not a deterrent, what is the point of the state executing a convicted murderer? It seems the only benefit is the psychological satisfaction of surviving friends and relatives for revenge, for the satisfaction of killing the murderer--- an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth--- Mosaic Law.

Those opposed to the death penalty argue that only God can take a life, can mete out justice. But it is obvious that short of the death penalty, it is man or collective humankind, The People, who decide on a just punishment for the commitment of a crime. Our criminal justice system provides an public trial in an open court, decided by a jury consisting of the defendant's peers--- a flawed system, but it's the best we've got. And The People, We--- have found Timothy McVeigh guilty of mass murder, and have decided in favor of carrying out the death penalty.

In this case, the evidence was so compelling, and the crime so egregious and heinous, that death seems to be the only appropriate punishment. The strongest argument for death, in this era of mercy, is the psychological feeling state of many of the friends and relatives of the victims. They want justice, they want 'closure.' They want satisfaction. They feel that retribution is theirs, retribution is 'justice.'

But not all of them. Bud Welch, a victim's father, is quoted as saying "When we take Tim McVeigh out of that cage to execute him, it isn't going to bring Julie Marie back."

The People's answer to him is, that's not the point. The point is retribution, punishment and deterrence--- the point is satisfying the will of The People. We know the execution will not bring Bud Welch's daughter back.

Many of those who oppose the death penalty on the basis of scripture give us pause to wonder whether once again We The People are again violating God's Law and will suffer the consequences.

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and on the editorial board of the Wayne County Medical Society. He welcomes comments at his email address--- vbloom@comcast.net.