Imagine that some psychopath, mistaking you the heir to the Bing Bubblegum fortune, kidnaps you for ransom. The Bings, presented with the video of you in captivity, respond that they don’t know you from Jehosaphat; they spirit your lookalike to safety until the psycho is caught, but have no intention of paying for your release. Hearing this, your captive locks you in a small airtight chamber with a pad of paper, a pen, and a flashlight. You’ve no more than an hour of air.
Now let’s further imagine that your lover, older sibling, or best friend is a professional and epic hero. Natty Bumpo, Spenser, Xena, whatever. There is no doubt in your mind that your beloved badass will have dropped everything after learning of your peril and is looking for you. But you also have every reason to think yourself the morality anchor for him or her. That is, the Beloved Badass has of late refrained from killing bad guys because she or he wants your approval more than anything else, but once the BB’s standing over your dead body, all bets will be off. The Beloved Badass is likely to going on a roaring rampage of revenge if that happens, hunting down and killing the psycho who’s doomed you no matter the personal cost. But it’s even more likely that, if the Beloved Badass knows that it is your last request that they not commit murder on your behalf, they’d honor it.
Do you write a note asking the Beloved Badass to spare the psycho’s life?
Not only would I write to let my BB (heh heh) know that I want to be avenged (“AVEEEEEENGE MEEEEE!”), I’d ask that he or she make the psycho’s passing as painful as possible (heh heh).
Go for the revenge but don’t ruin your life doing it. No prison time no decades spent tracking them down but otherwise make them hurt then kill them. Of course I’ll leave the decision up to my friend and damn why can’t I get yself out of this or at least get resurrected.
I associate with non-violent people and am attracted to the people in my life for that reason. My husband is a strong and gentle person and we have raised our children to not be reactive to strong emotion. Too many mistakes are made in anger or hatred. So it doesn’t make sense to me to want them to do anything which would compromise their emotional health or safety.
If they were the kind of people who took satisfaction in seeking revenge for any reason they wouldn’t be the people I love.
And it certainly wouldn’t do me any good at that point, anyway.
If they were suffering because of what had happened to me I would expect that they would seek assistance in dealing with the resulting anger in a non-aggressive fashion.
Time spent writing a note is time not spent using the spring inside the pen to pick the lock. Or the flashlight batteries to try to set some part of the cell on fire. Or gluing the pages of the pad together with my own bodily fluids to make a wedge. Or any of the other things I’d be trying.
Why, no, I haven’t ever picked a lock before. But hey, there’s a first time for everything, no?
As an aside, I read the OP before I saw there was a poll, and said to myself, “He’s allowing us a pen, paper, and a flashlight? Surely Skald would have realized that we’re going to try to Macgyver that?”. The poll options did not disappoint.
And on thinking about it a bit more, I don’t even need to break open the cell. All I need to do is get a hole in the gasket, to give me enough air to wait out the Beloved Badass rescuing me. The case of the pen would probably work well as a breathing tube.
This might sound a bit weak but Id rather the person wasnt doing the vigilante shtick at all, ie that at best they find out info they can pass on to the police, and the normal proccesses be followed from there. No beating up of suspects, leads, bartenders or whatever.
The other 55 minutes can be spent coming up with witty last words like ‘the million dollars is hidden in the urgggh…’ or whatever.
I’d write that I don’t want my avenger to get caught or have to go through a ton of trouble. But if he just so happens to catch the guy with no evidence…
Well, since my BB makes Rorschach look like a pussy, I picked the second option. This assures that my kidnapper will be brought to justice. Probably turned over to the police with enough evidence to either get him executed or at least imprisoned for many many years. Or, you know, accidents happen sometimes. Either way, he won’t be kidnapping anyone else, ever.
Am I to rely on on my kidnapper to deliver the note? Maybe carry it around like a “Get Out of Being Revenge Murdered Free” card?
No, I wouldn’t write a note like that, because it might distract my avenger from delivering the fatal blow. And while my avenger tries to figure out whether the note was forged or coerced… WHAM! Then my avenger needs an avenger.
Pretty much nothing in the hypothetical works for me. Can’t see myself being kidnapped. Can’t see anyone thinking they need to refrain from killing bad people to win my approval. Can’t see myself asking the Druidess to spare whatever was dumb enough to kill me. Can’t see it making any difference. The Druidess is generally peaceable unless riled. Harming those She’s fond of will likely rile the Druidess. It’s gonna be a bad day to be a bad guy.
To take your scenario seriously:
I am against the death penalty, simply because I think there is a significant percentage of people who might actually be innocent and I do not trust many of the convictions. (Does Illinois still have that moratorium on the death penalty in effect?)
However, I do think that if there is absolutely no shred of doubt (a video tape, a confession with evidence, tons of reliable eyewitnesses) and no justification whatsoever -well, that is another ball of wax. So, in your scenario, I see no reason not to ask that my murderer be put to death as well - not only for justice, but to ensure nobody else has to suffer the same fate.
I cannot stomach the idea of someone killing me, and then living happily ever after, perhaps sharing the amusing story with friends over brandy and cigars as the occasion merits. However, I’m a civilized man, and will not condone murder in my name. I would wish to be avenged - but through my killer’s incarceration, not his murder.
Though I wouldn’t find it terribly objectionable if the bastard fell down the stairs a few times on his way to prison. And while I can’t countenance murder, I wouldn’t want my loved one to take any special risks to capture the bad guy alive.
So, I voted for vengeance without murder - but killing in self-defense is perfectly fine.