About 30 years ago, I worked in the corrections system in my home state. At the time, I believed in Capital Punishment.

Many of the inmates were really nasty people, one of whom accidently got out and killed his therapist "because she was unfaithful to me." He then fled the state and lived quietly for most of the last 30 years before turning himself in for that crime. It was decided that this murder was an artifact of his insanity and that his ability to successfully live in society should weigh in his favor. He is now serving a [relatively] brief sentence to complete his previous sentence and will be released soon. Is he worthy of the death penalty? Maybe, maybe not. At the time of the crime, I would have sentenced him for killing a colleague, even though he had gotten out on a pass that she signed for him.

A year or two ago, I listened as two Muslim terrorists were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. They were involved in something which ended in significant loss of life. As they believed they were participating in Jihad, they wanted to be sentenced to death, so they could be martyred and go to Paradise. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole.

If we cannot reasonably sentence people to death for mass murder, despite their potential, hypothetical innocence, how can we reasonably sentence anyone to death? What is the effect on the souls of the executioners?

As Gandhi replied when asked about his thoughts on Western Civilization: "I think it would be a very good thing." Perhaps we should take a leaf from his book and allow time to sort things out without hurrying them along.