This question is inspired by a thread about a Saudi court decision to have a defendant paralyzed rather than executed, and the subsequent attempt to find a hospital or medical personality to carry out the sentence.
A man comes into your home with a hostage, a gun and a hammer. He hands you the hammer, and says, “This is a bad guy. I want you to break every bone in his body with that hammer. You don’t have to hit his head – I want him to be alive, but crippled for life. If you won’t do this, I will put a bullet in his head and kill him outright. But either way, I won’t hurt you. You can walk away. The only way I’ll hurt you is if you try to stop me from shooting him.”
Oh, and just to make things more interesting – you know both the hostage and the captor through sensational press coverage of a trial. Make up any details you want, but the bottom line is that you believe the captor when he says the hostage is a really bad evil guy.
I most assuredly wouldn’t hit him with the hammer and it is possible I’d try to save him entirely (though as I’ve never been in such a situation I can’t say. I might chicken out). If he kills him that is his evil act and it is on his head, but if I hurt the man it would be on mine. The fact that the victim was evil has no barring as I only believe in violence for the purpose of defense and the victim would not be a threat.
I see maiming as a win situation all around: The evil man gets what he wants; the victim gets to live; and I get to have a bit of fun. Everyone’s happy!
Can’t I just pull out my own gun and shoot and kill them both because I am pissed off they put me in the situation when I was just home, minding my own business?
He’s giving me the hammer. Hopefully, I can come up with some ploy to get within striking distance of the captor. I have no reason to believe he won’t shoot me after the deed anyway, so I’m going ballistic at my best opportunity. I must admit, such impulsivity has resulted in my personal injury before. But always remember, you can expect to get injured in any fight and don’t hold back.