Because we should not stop for death.

It's sad when a state is best-known for their stance on capital punishment (Texas):

Sec. 12.31.  CAPITAL FELONY. (a)An individual adjudged guilty of a capital felony in a case in which the state seeks the death penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life without parole or by death.

Although I normally choose to take a humorous slant on my blogs, this is something I feel needs to be addressed.  For a country that prides itself on the upholding of human rights laws and social advancement, the death penalty seems a little barbaric.  In ancient Viking times, they had a system called Weregild, in which there was a value placed on the head of each person, and if someone killed that person, then they would be exacted punishment equal to the value of the person they had murdered.  If the person could not pay, then their fate would be at the discretion of those whom they had wronged, either meaning slavery or death.  Fast forward about 1100 years and it's funny how we're still practicing the same barbaric practices.  It is impossible for any of us to put a price tag on human life, not speaking of a life for another life.  Be responding to violence with violence, it creates an environment where people aren't encouraged to do right but are scared into not doing wrong, and even then people who operate outside of fear are punished.  It just seems so base, and yet Texans proudly stand behind their practices, and that after murdering 464 inmates since 1982, 69% of them still support it.  I can just imagine:
Shirleen:  Did you hear about that latest execution?
Cindy:  You mean the one of the guy who claimed that he was asthmatic and accidentally shot his wife once in the chest while having an asthma attack?  These criminals these days are so creative.
Shirleen:  You're telling me.  Speaking of which, I got tickets to the last one.  My husband Rich is the sheriff and snagged some front row seats.  So I picked up the kids from soccer and we went and watched it.  It took a little longer than I hoped: I had a casserole in the oven and it nearly burned.  But I told my kids "Don't you dare kill your wife or Texas will kill you."  Such a good system.
Cindy:  Amen, sister.  I'm just glad it happened.  My husband said that if we didn't get an execution soon the chemicals would start to degrade, and that's $86 the state has to spend replacing them when they could just use it on some scoundrel.
Shirleen:  God bless Texas.  Speaking of which, did you see how the preacher's daughter was dressed yesterday?  We need to pray for her.