Executioners suffer mental problems. It is not as easy as pro deathers think. Firing squads had a blank bullet so you could convince yourself it was not you who killed an unarmed man. It was necessary to have that out ,but it was not enough for many.
Our soldiers, who are trained to believe they are killing to save the country, come back screwed up. Many have serious problems. So, don’t be so sure you could do it with impunity. Once you do it, you can’t go back.
Some soldiers come back “screwed up” – i.e., suffering from post-traumatic stress or other combat related disorders. Others do not. I do not mean to say that the soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress are weaker or lesser than those who do not; merely that the experience is not universal.
Can you cite that executioners generally suffer long-term mental problems, as you claim? If so, please do.
Presumably the one the OP has in mind, or why ask us if we were willing to do it?
The OP asked “would you be willing to act as executioner?”
You said
You added kind of an important bit there.
Not at all. I was asking if people were willing to take a job as exeuctioner, not act like Charles Bronson.
I would if my identity wasn’t known, I knew the criminal did it and was sentenced to death under circumstances I agree with. I would have to know the death was the most humane way to put another human down. That said, I wouldn’t enjoy it.
I’ve never been effected by another human that made me wish that they would die, or I be their executioner. I never lost a loved one, or had a loved one hurt due to the neglectful, careless, or malicious acts of someone else, so it’s hard for me to put myself in the shoes of a victim’s family. I don’t believe in doing things out of hatred, and I don’t agree that a victim’s family has good reason to sit in on a execution. IF I do believe in the death-penalty, it’s not out of hate for the people who are going to die. It would be because I believe sometimes it’s better if people who are so ‘sick’ to have done something to get themselves into that situation, that they can’t be rehabilitated, and simply can not live by our most basic standards of living. Meaning; I don’t want to turn into a malicious killer myself.
That said, I would play the part of executioner, just because if I didn’t do it, someone else would. I listed the conditions up top.
The problem I have with the death-penalty is that there were people who were wrongfully put to death. Also, I don’t know how to quantify what’s considered mental illness or not. In fact, I don’t know if I can “fault” anyone for doing whatever it is that they do, because I believe they were destined to do it. Nature and/or Nurture, I believe people no choice in reacting how they do without the intervention of “free-will”, (as we know it). If you rewind life like a video tape, with everything the same, the same occurrences would play out with out anything to intervene.
I don’t blame people for mistakes, but I do wish them to pay for them, that’s how we can learn from them. Death should be reserved for those who can’t be reached, and feel no guilt for their actions.
Didn’t read through all the replies.
What about.
Yes if I am somehow related to the victim and I want to avenge.
Only if I read all the evidence and was convinced both of the criminal’s guilt and the merit of execution.
I’d do the job if it compensated sufficiently for the potential damage to my mental health. It better have great health benefits and pay at least a thousand bucks per death.
In order to make a living that way, then, you’d better live in Texas.
Yeah the point is that I am willing to do it (morally), but it would be a really tough thing for me to do (practically). So the money had best be fantastic.