Kill all
Thankfully, God demonstrates His love for us in not condemning us.”—Romans 5:8
If we did not create a blood-thirsty society that glorifies violence, the Death Penalty wouldn’t have been a lengthy debate. As it is, rather than addressing the root-causes of the drug problem of our country, popular opinion has opted for a quick solution—kill them all.
Taking a life of another has been a justified act since society was in its early stages – as proactive defense, in an ‘either you die or I die’ scenario. The Philippines used to have death penalty for capital crimes such as murder, rape and treason. After martial law, it was prohibited, then reinstated during the time of Ramos and suspended again during Arroyo’s administration.
None of the administrations that supported the capital punishment was able to solve the crime rate problems. None of the administrations was able to provide for real structural changes that gave the people economic options.
But what about the rich drug lords? Are they what we can term desperate to put food on their table? No, but they are preying on the desperate. They are using the poor as mules, petty dealers, promising them relief from their daily problems of income. Well maybe the poor do not need worry about the death penalty because they are already subjected to extra-judicial killings.
Kill all.
This has been the solution of the government to all its problems. Instead of rebuking the evil structures that promotes misdeeds, instead of going to the root-causes of all the conflicts and crimes in the country—fair and stable income, a functioning justice system, reform for drug users among several other actions that legislators could have focused on—it has chosen to react violently.
And the warlords in congress are happy. Instead of getting their backyards cleaned, they are given further impunity to kill. And society is glorifying them.