I don't think you're hard-hearted, Sorcha. I think you're just conflicted and distressed.

The problem is, who gets to decide? I'm with you, up to a point - for instance, in theory I'd be in favor of doing away with all the murderers, rapists and child-molesters, but in practice I can't be sure that every one who is convicted is guilty, because the system is fallible. People get off who shouldn't, innocent people are convicted, maybe there actually were extenuating circumstances...

The way I see it, if you give total strangers the right to decide if someone else lives or dies, you're potentially giving total strangers the right to decide whether you yourself live or die. How much faith do you have in your fellow man, when it comes down to it?