Alcatraz vs Death Penalty

Can you forgive a killer ? a rapist ?

"Give another chance", "Forgive them", "Don't snatch the gift of life from someone". These were my beliefs for a very long time and still is, to a major extent.

I always believe in forgiving human, no matter how big a sin they had committed and let them live a forgiven life and not electrocute or put them in death row. But, lately I have changed my thought process and almost that belief was abated.

I was reading the headlines couple of days ago about the home invasion in Cheshire, CT. Two guys who were released on parole invaded a house in the middle of the night, waited till morning, took the woman as hostage to a bank, robbed the money and set the house in fire which killed the wife and 2 kids who were 17 and 11. The father who is a endocrinologist survived the attack by dragging himself out of the burning house from basement. When I read this news as a regular headline, I would like to skip to the next news, but when I think of that Doctor, who lost his house, wife and kids and his life, my heart goes out to him and at the same time makes me think why the Omniscient gave so much power to mortals to play with other people's lives and didn't use His Omnipotence and intervene. One of the suspect is 26 years old and he committed his first crime when he was 14. Judge called him a cold, calculated predator and put him in jail for 9 yrs in 2003 and its not even 4 years he is already out and committed this deviltry. Second suspect, who is 44 has worse history than his accomplice, being a criminal was his career. Both the girls were tied to the bed, raped and killed(not sure by fire or they were killed before the fire).

Jackson County, Florida Sheriff's wife was shot and killed by a man the Sheriff was investigating for another murder. Sheriff who was saving the whole town couldn't save his own home. Inmates who has a disturbing past often go back to the smut and do sordid stuff.

Now, why should these two thugs be spared? They can't be sent back to prison to let them sodomize among themselves and deal with it. No, they will be back again to destroy some other family. I am convinced that human who don't live humane doesn't deserve mercy. The victim can find the heart to forgive these hoodlum, but they gotta pay the price for whatever they did. The price can be none other than their own life.

Were they born killers or they were made like that? That is something too hard to comprehend !