Paul Toohey; 7/11/08
How are you going to feel? Vindicated? Indifferent? Sad? Angry? Glad they’re dead? Or does it make you feel sick? Consistently, since the 2002 Bali bombings, there has been little passionate advocacy from within Australia for the bombers to be spared. It is understandable. These were not Australians; they were enemies of Australia. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch asks her father: “Atticus, is it true you defend niggers?” Atticus tells her that there has been “some high talk” around their town. Well, there’s been some high talk around this country, much of it cries for blood. The test, for me, is whether those people who clamoured for the executions would be prepared to themselves pull the trigger. Me, I could not do it. I guess that means I’m against the death penalty.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24618131-5013404,00.html
Tags: Australia, Capital Punishment, Indonesia