The State of Things
I hate capiitol punishment, because I can't see what purpose it serves. Granted that it costs society a lot to house, protect, guard and feed a criminal for twenty to fifty or more years, but the criminal has to die anyway, and a quick--sometimess painless--execution may be an easier way to go than if he suffered from, say, lung cancer or muscular dystrophy for years.
I'm thinking about this now, because the butcher of Bhagdad has just received government assistance in departing this life. Maybe he suffered for five minutes, and perhaps he was scared to death when he saw that noose. So what? Think of the thousands he murdered or caused to be murdered and the fear he put into millions more. Is Five minutes of suffering sufficient payment for that? If anyone who reads this can come up with a more fitting punishment, please let us know what it is. I've thought about dog food, naked in barbed wire enclosed , outdoor quarters and such, but why punish others by forcing them to look at him. Oh, well. Have your say.
On January First, Congress will be led by Democrats. However, this change seems to have escaped the president, who is hell bent on ignoring the fact that a majority of us want the young women and men in the armed forces of this country to have a sporting chance at dying in bed at a great age, instead of being blown to pieces in somebody else's country before they reach age thirty. Mr Bush, please take heed.
I had a banner 2006. Harlequin/Kimani Press published two of my books (romances), Her Secret Life, and McNeil's Match. Kensingto publishing/Dafina Books published a mainstream novel, WHEN YOU DANCE WITH THE DEVIL, and a mainstream novella, "The Journey," in DESTINY's DAUGHTERS by Gwynne Forster, Donna Hill and Parry "Ebony Satin" Brown. I hope you had a chance to read them. Genesis Press reissued under new covers AGAINST THE WIND and NAKED SOUL, romances first published in 1998 and 1999. Unfortunately, the reissues contain innumerable printing errors that did not occur in the first edition. I had no role in this, but I apologize to all who got a copy with the errors.
I wish all of you a blessed, prosperous New Year.
Gwynne Forster
posted by Gwynne @ 9:51 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
VeeJay, exhaling loudly:::::whew! You've said a mouthful as far as SH. I'm also torn on the execution thing. Guess cause I'm a mother, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with me losing a child. Dubya betta recognize soon. So many innocent lives lost fighting someone else's battle. It's frightening to see the repercussions of us interfering in other people's affairs and SH's demise.
Anyhow, on the P thing....I think I'm the queen. I finished my first novel, it's being reviewed by a publisher (say a quick prayer, plese). I started another book, actually, I combined two of my short stories and am turning them into a novel....but it's just that....I've started....weeks ago...and it's sitting. I'm praying now that the holidays are over and done with, I'll get my inspiration to get back to novel #2....and #3 that I started also....
Continued blessings, Gwynne.
Love & Peace,
VeeJay
Amen Sista!!!!
Capital Punishment serves no purpose other than to let a few angry people have a few moments of
"joy", "happiness"...I'm not sure what they experience for those few moments.
Taking a life is taking a life and whatever way it's done, it's WRONG. Don't get me wrong I think everyone should pay for things they have done but who decides what the price is?
Bottom line is God will judge and decide punishment as He sees fit. If I were in charge, I think I would inject them with some horrible disease and let them suffer instead of (or along with)the innocent people who already suffer on a daily basis.
Gwynne,
I think there are some ways that other societies handle capital punishment that are thought provoking. Both of these that I mention, I've been told, are customs in some West African communities. The first is that the offender is buried up to his neck with only his head exposed, then honey or some other sweet substance is poured over his head and he is left in the hot sun for the birds, insects, and other animals to extract his final punishment. The second is that person slated for execution is forced to attend his own funeral the night before his execution. He is required to carry his own coffin to the place where the ceremony (funeral) is to be held and he is forced to sit with both the mourners and those who want him dead throughout the ceremony and throughout that night until it is time for him to be carried to the beach and beheaded, hung or shot. One of these methods is recounted in a novel I wrote some time ago that I'm hoping will be republished soon entitled Softly, Softly Catch the Monkey.
HI, This is what The Romance In Color website has to say about my latest mainstream. Be sure to get a copy. Gwynne
WHEN YOU DANCE WITH THE DEVIL – Gwynne Forster
KENSINGTON DAFINA/FICTION
August 2006
(4+) Tricia-ann Blades
A true story of the dance of life is told in the novel WHEN YOU DANCE WITH THE DEVIL by Gwynne Foster. This dance begins in bondage; the dancer is chained to the circumstances of life, shackled by the heavy chains of emotional abuse and despair, hearing the beat of the drum but only able to dance within a confined space. Emancipation arrives and as it is proclaimed the dancer releases the chains and aims to fly free as a bird on the wings of life. This story is excellently written, thought provoking and will impact upon the reader’s own life journey.
Jolene is a thirty-five year old caged bird, who has never been allowed to take flight. Her wings have been clipped by her circumstances and when these change, it is her aim to experience what was hidden from her all these years. Her steps are tentative and unsure. She falters along the way and at times falls in the miry of life. But the author uses this character to show her readers that in spite of errors that can occur in the life of an individual, a determination to succeed, to learn and to grow; can produce a beautiful rose, whose radiance can outshine the gloom of circumstance.
The author contrasts this caged bird with one who has been freed and has flown throughout life uninhibited. This character has taken what life has offered, he has abused, misused and becomes totally disillusioned with his flight. He grows weary, not liking who or what he has become. Richard’s sojourn at Thank the Lord Boarding House helps him to become the person that he should be, lessons are hard earned but he realizes that he has much to offer to society. As he opens himself to man, he realizes that man opens to him and he becomes the man he was created to be.
Lost souls often need a savior, one who can guide them along the beaten path of life, having been there themselves. As the author develops this piece of excellent prose, she includes the savior, the guide and the comforter in the form of Judd. This character brings to mind the necessity of the role of the older generation; that of leading the younger generation into the right path not belittling them but encouraging them to be all that they could be.
An excellent piece of prose, powerful and impacting, showing the reader that as man struggles in the cocoon of life, he can become a beautiful butterfly if he doesn’t give up.
Peggy,
That would be a bitter pill indeed, but the poor guy's family would suffer along with him and also long after his death. I guess the moral of this story is that the just suffer with the unjust. Since that's the case any way you slice it, I say let the guy enjoy his own wake and his own funeral. I still don't like capitol punishment, but what else coculd be done with a Saddam or a Hitler?
Gwynne January 14, 2007
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