Our death penalty paradox: We agonize over making executions painless; but we still kill them.

Let me be very clear:   I am strongly opposed to the death penalty, no matter the horror of the crime.     My opposition boils down simply to this:   I do not believe that anyone, either as an individual or collectively through state laws, has the right to intentionally end another person's life -- except to protect other lives or to end intractable suffering.

Then, in addition, I oppose the death penalty because we are increasingly finding that innocent people have been put to death after being wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit.     The most recent of these was the two brothers in Texas who were just exonerated by DNA testing, after spending 30 years in prison.  

What I find puzzling is those who do support the death penalty but agonize about making executions painless.   The planned execution of a man in Texas was protested because it was said that the lethal drugs they planned to use were expired -- suggesting that it might prolong the dying process.    A recent case in Oklahoma of a faulty IV injection of the lethal drug resulted in a prolonged dying process during which the man was presumed to be in pain.

What I don't get is that they think it is all right to kill them, but not to cause them pain in the process.    I've read recently that the guillotine is the most painless way, but we recoil in horror . . . even to the word "beheading."

So are we trying to kid ourselves into thinking, by using lethal injections, we're simply putting them to sleep and not really killing them?   Is it to counter our guilt for killing someone that we get so concerned for the comfort and safety of the one we're killing?

Again, don't misunderstand my position.    I am not in favor of intentionally, or inadvertently, causing pain in the process of killing someone.   I just think it's a little absurd to agonize over hurting someone while in the process of extinguishing his life.

We should abolish the death penalty as barbaric, as have a number of nations and some of our own states.

Ralph