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Published: May 13, 2009 10:25 pm
Reader's Forum: May 14, 2009
Use of torture can’t be justified
I cannot believe in this day and age that some people still believe it is permissible to subject another human being to torture to obtain information.
When you have waterboarded a prisoner over 260 times and are not getting any information, then I would think it is safe to assume he doesn’t have any to give. This is the old debate that the means justify the ends.
The closing of the prison camp in Cuba is a strike against the terror of imprisonment without representation. Thank goodness the president has stood up against those that instituted these unjust practices. I have heard all the arguments that torture saves American lives, but it doesn’t give us the right to inflict pain and suffering on another human being.
If we are to be the symbol of justice and fair play to the world, then we cannot sanction torturing prisoners of war. We must rise above this level of cruelty. The argument that the terrorists torture American soldiers doesn’t give us the right to sink to their level. Doing evil in the name of right doesn’t erase the fact that torturing another human is against moral ethics. I have often wondered how easily some people support torture and yet say they are Christians.
I don’t wish to discuss the ethics involved in stem cell research or the president’s stand on abortion. I support his stand on both issues. Of course, what would you expect from a Democrat, so save those letters of condemnation, they will not change my opinion one bit.
As long as I am standing on my soap box, I might as well take a swipe at gun owners. Yes, I am married to a life-time member of the NRA (I think there is a picture of Charleston Heston under our mattress right next to a picture of Richard Nixon on his side of the bed) and for 18 years he has tried to convince me that ownership of assault weapons is justified. I am not against personal ownership of hunting rifles and hand guns and I do believe the Second Amendment is safe, but I don’t think you should be able to buy any kind of assault weapon in this country as a private citizen either at gun shows, from dealers or on the Web.
My last entry in this letter is concerning the potential sentence of the commissioner for 10 months for dealing meth. We normally send drug dealers to prison for longer than 10 months. In fact, I just read where a drug dealer got 15 years. I don’t know why Mr. Decker would be entitled to a lesser sentence but I suspect his political connections may have something to do with it.
As a former teacher, Mr. Decker should be held to an even higher standard. He sure isn’t the kind of role model we need for our children. What would make a middle-aged man want to distribute drugs of any kind? Didn’t he see what kind of damage drugs are doing when he was teacher?
With good behavior is he going to be out in five months or be under house arrest? This plea agreement stinks to high heaven. I need to go find my aroma therapy candle and light it.
— Shirley A. Thomas
Brazil
Reporting old crime unnecessary, unfair
The May 1, 2009, big news article on David Decker’s arrest went on to include information about the 2002 arrest and conviction of Shawn Decker.
I found the inclusion of that old news to not only be irrelevant but unfair. This young man has paid his debt to society and having done so should be allowed to “live down” that crime. His past is exactly that — his past — and bringing it up again unfairly forces him, and his children, to re-live it all over again.
To trumpet it out in such a look-see manner of reporting reeks of tabloid sensationalism and I thought the Tribune-Star was better than that. Obviously not.
— Debra Robinson
Farmersburg
McBride letter brilliant, witty
I am an avid follower of the Readers’ Forum. Letter writer Randy Baker and his ilk have done much to form my opinion of this city.
Stephanie Salter’s columns or the occasional letter that show thoughtful reasoning are like having a curtain pulled back to illuminate a dark room.
The letter from John McBride (May 10) was insightful, brilliant, enlightening and witty. It truly made my day. Thanks, John.
— R.G. Simmons
Terre Haute
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