Image by Sailing "Footprints: Real to Reel" (Ronn ashore) via FlickrThis week one of my three cats caught a bird and brought in inside the house. All that was left in the morning was a scattering of feathers and a bloodied torso, no head, no feet to clean up.
I've seen how cats play with their pray before they finally kill. It's the instinct in them and I don't object to it or find it repulsive as some people might. That's the way of nature.
Of course, I have to wonder about the human species and the instinct to enjoy the kill.
I've never enjoyed killing whether it be deliberately or by accident when as a child I accidentally stepped on a kitten, I was distraught. I was even upset when I accidentally euthanized my pet goldfish. I've never been into hunting and the few times that I've gone fishing I always feel sympathy for the fish when I have to knock it on the head.
So, I have to wonder about those of us who go hunting for sport. Those of us who still have the instinct for the kill, the thrill of the kill rather than the need to kill to eat as do carnivores.
The juxtaposition of a cat playing with it's prey and a human serial killer enters my mind.
It's an aweful thought and it worries me in ways I cannot articulate.
I've read enough about serial killers to know that in their warped mind, there is a connection with killing and sexual pleasure.
Now we all know about kinky sex and maybe aren't familiar with all the permutations possible within the experience of sexual gratification and related activities but that doesn't mean we have any urge to explore those areas. Some curious individuals might dabble in S&M for example but killing other human beings? That's just incomprehensible.
And this leads me to the question of "what is justice?". Is it enough that we lock away individuals who have a predeliction for murder? Is justice merely keeping our society safe from those who would harm us?
I don't have any answers, just questions question questions.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d95c20a3-0cc0-4434-999c-90d28e54e820)
10 comments:
I was reading a scientific article that stated a correlation between low levels of certain neurotransmitters and high levels of abhorrent behavior.
Little Johnny is sullen and listless unless he is torching cats with gasoline and matches.
Once the cats no longer give the desired boost in neurotransmitters they move on to rape, torture, murder, cannibalism etc...
The same goes for sexual predellictions like bondage, S&M, and other more disgusting varieties.
The behavior becomes more and more extreme until it becomes anti-social and illegal.
Hunting instincts are more for survival I think, the chase and kill are rewarding in a mission accomplished sort of way rather than a lust for blood.
Justice should be an equalizing of sorts.
Merely separating vicious killers from society to protect them, meanwhile, taxing that same society to keep them alive at great expense, is hardly justice. While I do not think killing is "good" it is sometimes necessary. It is necessary to kill animals to get all the nutrients we require. (Vegetarians would argue with this, but a vegetarian diet is far from natural either - requiring various supplements and a lot of awareness). Not all killing is murder. Killing for pleasure is very different from killing for necessity.
If you have been watching Dexter, it brings up some very uncomfortable questions. If someone kills in the name of justice, is it wrong just because they enjoy it?
No doubt science will come up with the answers, meanwhile I continue to enjoy watching Dexter.
Dexter?
I recently saw 'Capote'. To me, it was more about the death penalty than Truman Capote. I think there are some folks who are beyond rehabilitation.
Dexter the TV series.
Pinky, if imprisonment is punishment then why do prisoners have rights? If it's rehab then what is punishment?
I agree with you about those who are beyond rehabilitation. It seems that the justice system is incapable of distinguishing between those who commit crimes deliberately from those who commit crimes inadvertently.
Justice is a counterbalancing virtue against wisdom, much as courage is the counterbalancing virtue against temperance. ;-)
You had to be there. Plato's "Republic" was written to explore that question, "What is justice".
I don't think prisoners should have rights. They gave them up when they committed a crime. Prison isn't rehab. Rehab is rehab. I guess I should've said, those criminals whose crimes are deemed too severe for even prison deserve the death penalty.
I'm a savage, I guess.
Although I feel this way now, I don't like this about myself.
I'm not sure how I feel about people who commit unspeakable acts of violence.
I think we're all capable of more than we dare to imagine.
FJ, I read The Republic when I was 18 so it's been a few years ago.
Pinky, yes we're all capable of atrocious acts of violence, we just need to justify it in our own minds then we commit it. That's the frightening side to human beings.
Post a Comment