Jock's Place - Why I find this Tory crap abhorrent... - Comments

I don't mind that statement

Tristan Mills — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:06:51 +0100

I don't mind that statement so much. However, I do think that the sentences themselves need to be looked at.

Life should mean life, but it should be a rare occurrence to have a life sentence.

Perhaps sentences should be more conditional, so perhaps instead of the many life sentences handed out a judge could hand down a sentence of 10 years imprisonment followed by yearly reviews of danger to others and reform with the possibility release/parole/etc

Basically we should redefine our terms to mean what they mean in reality rather than what people think they mean.

Sure, but I suspect our

Jock — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:30:52 +0100

Sure, but I suspect our liberal humanist selves are not the core audience this Conservatory stuff is meant to appeal to...:)

Humanist view

Andrew Duffield — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:02:57 +0100

Don't assume you have a Christian monopoly on this Jock, old boy. As an atheist, I also believe in "expiation, repentance and the ability of people to change their lives for the better". This is a secular liberal issue, not a religious one. Cheers!

Why I find this Tory crap abhorrent...

Jock — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:19:58 +0100

It's not because I am a liberal I find one particular aspect of this abhorrent:

Convicted criminals to serve the full sentence given to them by the judge.

...but because I am a Christian, and I believe in expiation, repentance and the ability of people to change their lives for the better, and in ways a judge at the time of a trial could not anticipate.

There's plenty of other stuff to get worried about as a liberal of course, but I would urge Christians not to fall for this particular piece of knee-jerk populist authoritarianism.