# Lawrence Russell Brewer Dead
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [September 22, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158 "2011-09-22T04:33:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/41 "2011-09-22T14:40:12Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> Which is firmly rooted in the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings.
Wait 'til you get to the New Testament. There’s a \*huge \*plot twist.
---
### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/42 "2011-09-22T14:54:07Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#):
>
> [http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/21/us/AP-US-Texas-Execution-Dragging-Death.html?hp](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/21/us/AP-US-Texas-Execution-Dragging-Death.html?hp)
>
> There is fortunately no controversy surrounding Brewer and the other two’s guilt and thus justice has been dispensed cleanly, flatly, and finally on this disgusting wretch. Huzzah for justice!
BOO for capital punishment! It is wrong, always and everywhere (coulda sworn I’ve already briefed you on that fact, **Qin**. What gives?). Justice would have had that scum rotting away in solitary confinement for as long as it took him to die of natural causes.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/43 "2011-09-22T15:00:26Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> Says the adult just told a 14 year old boy that he’s a disgusting piece of shit.
>
> As long as you do that, you cannot claim some sort of moral high horse.
Meh. I’m pretty sure he’s fifteen by now.
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### Author:  [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/44 "2011-09-22T15:00:35Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#):
>
> I am glad justice has been carried out not that he has been killed.
Huh, I would have thought that justice as carried out when he was convicted by the justice system. But then again I’m not a Christian
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/45 "2011-09-22T15:06:16Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> BOO for capital punishment! It is wrong, always and everywhere (coulda sworn I’ve already briefed you on that fact, **Qin**. What gives?). Justice would have had that scum rotting away in solitary confinement for as long as it took him to die of natural causes.
Yeah, but justice isn’t what we get in the absence of capital punishment in this country. Instead, killers get three squares, TV, books, chess, checkers and weights and visits with family and loved ones. And probably prison jobs to pay for candy bars and shit.
And then if past history is any indication, as soon as we get liberal dominance of the Supreme Court, life without parole, even with all those goodies, may very well be deemed “cruel and unusual punishment” and before long we’ll be back to paroles and convicted murderers serving an average of 14 years behind bars.
The death penalty is the only way in this country to be absolutely sure that these assholes aren’t inflicted upon society again at some point in the future.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/46 "2011-09-22T15:07:44Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> You wanna feel viscerally ill? Read what he was executed for. By his own free will, he chose a path that removes him from consideration as a fellow human being & instead lower than a mad dog that needs to be put down. So again, I say “Hallelujah, Just and True are Your Judgments, O Yahweh, for Lawrence Russell Brewer has shed innocent blood and so his blood has been shed, as You have rightly decreed.”
>
> And if that be vile, disgusting, barbaric and obscene, make the most of it.
It is. As a Christian man of the cloth, you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. :mad: What happened to the Christian values of redemption, compassion, forgiveness, and nonjudgementalness? You just earned a spot on my ignore list-congratulations.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/47 "2011-09-22T15:09:31Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> Says the adult just told a 14 year old boy that he’s a disgusting piece of shit.
>
> As long as you do that, you cannot claim some sort of moral high horse.
It’s his choice to come to an adult message board and jump right into the mud and start slinging it around; he shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if some is slung back in his direction (nor should he go crying to his mommy if it is).
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### Author:  [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/48 "2011-09-22T15:14:59Z")
> [@George\_Kaplin](#):
>
> Do you have anything _not_ written by Ann Coulter? See, Ann Coulter’s reputation for honesty is so poor that if she were to wish me a good morning, the first thing I would do is go to my window to check that it was, in fact, a good morning. The woman’s an inveterate liar and, frankly, if all you’ve got is an article by Ann Coulter then as far as I’m concerned you’ve got nothing.
>
> If you have any articles written by someone with a good track record for telling the truth I would be happy to consider them.
Yes.. Ann’s credibility is so outstanding i think her tweet last night summed it up.. [ann+coulter on Tumblr](http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/ann+coulter)
Enough of that sick evil cunt (And trust me.. she’s the ONLY woman i would ever use that term for) I was/am here in Georgia in 1989.. We’re talking pre-olympics.. pre “new georgia” and Savannah. THe detectives are faced with a dead white cop no hard evidence no forensics and a bunch of people pointing different directions with charges and cases over their heads.. Yeah.. I’m CONFIDENT about that one..
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### Author:  [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/49 "2011-09-22T15:44:10Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#):
>
> _Nobody_ can claim the moral high horse while you’ve got your pimply ass glued to the saddle, gently stroking its flaxen mane with your “My Pretty Pony” hairbrush, you milquetoast prig of an apologist for all manner of bad behavior, you.
Awesome!
😛
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### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/50 "2011-09-22T15:45:57Z")
Well, having gone away from the board to actually do stuff, I’ve had some time to think again.
First, I stand by my sentiments expressed. However, I was kinda enjoying pestering SecondJudith & considering that one of my posts doing so invoked The Name, I am sorry for my attitude towards her & in misusing The Name in doing so.
Second, while my “Christian bloodthirstyness” is indeed rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures, they are seconded in Christian Scripture- not so much in the Gospels, Acts or the Apostles’ Letters, but in Revelation- which I was paraphrasing in my most over-the-top post. I totally own it. I do believe that Yahweh-Jesus do allow for, if not mandate, capital punishement for various violent crimes, I believe that is consistent with both sets of Scripture, and I do believe God’s people can rejoice when justice is so served. Where I did also go over-the-top was that such celebration & delight could be appropriate from people directly affected- the Hebrew slaves rejoicing at the destruction of Pharoah’s army in the Red Sea, Deborah’s song celebrating the death of Sisera, the Martyrs in Heaven praising God for destroying the Whore Babylon.
Third, I was going to say that I did not know whether the murderer was in any way repentant, and I was wrong in assuming that he wasn’t. However, I see indication that he was not. I regret not checking on that first.
As I’m on John DiFool’s ignore list, it doesn’t change anything in his estimation, but I believe in all those things, but not promiscuously.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/51 "2011-09-22T15:52:03Z")
The USA is a country of many wonderful people, with many aspects to admire. Unfortunately, your penal code is not one of them.
I know that many observing from the outside find it difficult to square the people we know with the actions of the country as a whole. How, in the 21st century does a first world country still find itself without a proper health service, with 25% of the worlds prison population and a justice system eager to kill?
Boggles my mind it does.
You have a disproportionally large prison population and the last I looked your crime rate and recidivism rate, were not disproportionally small. If you use prison as rehabilitation and deterrent then it doesn’t work. If it is for punishment then you have to be worried that there is still so much needing punishing.
If, (as I suspect) the death penalty is a political weapon and used to satisfy the blood-lust of the masses, then shame on you. And most definitely shame on the OP.
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### Author:  [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/52 "2011-09-22T15:52:58Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> First, I stand by my sentiments expressed. However, I was kinda enjoying pestering SecondJudith & considering that one of my posts doing so invoked The Name, I am sorry for my attitude towards her & in misusing The Name in doing so.
You use it again in the subsequent paragraph, but I appreciate the sentiment.
Do you understand that Jewish interpretation of those stories is different (a court that condemns one person in 70 years to death is said to be bloodthirsty, although there is no evidence even this much happened; God turns angrily to the angels singing psalms over the Reed Sea and says, ‘My children are drowning and you rejoice?’), and that accusing the Tanakh of containing the hateful vicious parts of Christian theology is an extremely old antisemitic card?
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/53 "2011-09-22T15:59:52Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> Second, while my “Christian bloodthirstyness” is indeed rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures, they are seconded in Christian Scripture- not so much in the Gospels, Acts or the Apostles’ Letters, but in Revelation- which I was paraphrasing in my most over-the-top post. I totally own it. I do believe that Yahweh-Jesus do allow for, if not mandate, capital punishement for various violent crimes, I believe that is consistent with both sets of Scripture, and I do believe God’s people can rejoice when justice is so served. Where I did also go over-the-top was that such celebration & delight could be appropriate from people directly affected- the Hebrew slaves rejoicing at the destruction of Pharoah’s army in the Red Sea, Deborah’s song celebrating the death of Sisera, the Martyrs in Heaven praising God for destroying the Whore Babylon.
Yet another example of why religion should never, ever be allowed anywhere near a justice system. What on earth would it look like if people like Friar Ted were let loose on it?
Such people seem make free with any old interpretation that suits them, I suspect the bloodthirstyness comes first and then they seek out the relevant passages of scripture in order to give them a veneer of “respectability”. Bloody hell, if ever a word needed scare quotes it is that one.
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### Author:  [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/54 "2011-09-22T16:03:49Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#):
>
> Yet another example of why religion should never, ever be allowed anywhere near a justice system. What on earth would it look like if people like Friar Ted were let loose on it?
>
> Such people seem make free with any old interpretation that suits them, I suspect the bloodthirstyness comes first and then they seek out the relevant passages of scripture in order to give them a veneer of “respectability”. Bloody hell, if ever a word needed scare quotes it is that one.
I completely agree with you on both points.
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/55 "2011-09-22T16:13:37Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> You wanna feel viscerally ill? Read what he was executed for.
I’m quite aware of the nature of his crime. It would have been hard not to know about it.
> [@](#):
>
> By his own free will, he chose a path that removes him from consideration as a fellow human being & instead lower than a mad dog that needs to be put down.
Did Jesus tell you that Byrd has been removed from consideration as a human being in his eyes?
I think not.
> [@](#):
>
> So again, I say “Hallelujah, Just and True are Your Judgments, O Yahweh, for Lawrence Russell Brewer has shed innocent blood and so his blood has been shed, as You have rightly decreed.”
>
> And if that be vile, disgusting, barbaric and obscene, make the most of it.
If you want to metaphorically dance on someone’s grave, that’s certainly your prerogative.
But perhaps you should leave God’s name out of it. Did God want Brewer dead? You don’t know that. Pretending that you do just shows how hollow and worthless your faith is. You’re just another supposed Christian who goes through life tailoring your God to fit your prejudices. It would demonstrate a much greater degree of integrity than you demonstrate here for you to simply fashion a golden calf and worship it instead.
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### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/56 "2011-09-22T16:15:52Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#):
>
> You use it again in the subsequent paragraph, but I appreciate the sentiment.
>
> Do you understand that Jewish interpretation of those stories is different (a court that condemns one person in 70 years to death is said to be bloodthirsty, although there is no evidence even this much happened; God turns angrily to the angels singing psalms over the Reed Sea and says, ‘My children are drowning and you rejoice?’), and that accusing the Tanakh of containing the hateful vicious parts of Christian theology is an extremely old antisemitic card?
Yeah, but in the subsequent paragraph I was just using The Name in my explanation, not in pestering you.
I know the story of the Divine rebuke of the angels at the Exodus, but the story also has Him saying that it is perfectly all right for the Israelites to rejoice.
And I obviously don’t regard those parts as hateful & vicious. I deeply believe it is just & right to execute violent criminals & to be happy when such a person is removed from this life. And that it is part of the Hebrew & Christian Scriptures. I own both Testaments.
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### Author:  [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/57 "2011-09-22T16:21:42Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> Yeah, but in the subsequent paragraph I was just using The Name in my explanation, not in pestering you.
Great, good to find our exactly how far that apology went.
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> And I obviously don’t regard those parts as hateful & vicious.
I do, and the rabbis emphatically do as well. You own Christian theology, and you are more than welcome to it.
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### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/58 "2011-09-22T16:21:58Z")
I neither exult at the execution nor mourn the man’s passing. The whole story is just too damn tragic.
I do, however, continue to find it amusing when people use the Bible as justification for the rightness of capital punishment, given that it contains the most famous example in history of an innocent man wrongly executed.
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### Author:  [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/59 "2011-09-22T16:25:06Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> And I obviously don’t regard those parts as hateful & vicious. I deeply believe it is just & right to execute violent criminals & to be happy when such a person is removed from this life
If you’re reading that right, your god sucks.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-russell-brewer-dead/597158/60 "2011-09-22T16:36:51Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#):
>
> [http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/21/us/AP-US-Texas-Execution-Dragging-Death.html?hp](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/21/us/AP-US-Texas-Execution-Dragging-Death.html?hp)
>
> There is fortunately no controversy surrounding Brewer and the other two’s guilt and thus justice has been dispensed cleanly, flatly, and finally on this disgusting wretch. Huzzah for justice!
This is absolutely disgusting. Don’t you ever stop and THINK before you post? Even if you believe in the death penalty, I don’t think you should be _cheering_ when it’s carried out. That’s just barbaric.
Whatever you think Jesus’s teachings on the death penalty, I don’t think he was actually all, “woohoo!” when it came to executions.
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