I've always disagreed with capital punishment. I'm agnostic myself, but i find it confusing that a country can be base on christianity, which states one must forgive, and thou shalt not murder, yet revenge is taken and a person is affectively mudered by the state. I was watching an episode of Oprah Winfrey a few days ago, where a woman told her account of when she had been taken hostage in her own house by a serial killer. Some people may know the story, im not able to recall the name, but the emotions and reactions of the woman were what shocked me. I dont know this person very well, but ill tell you what i heard, and what i thought. 1)This woman kept repeating that she had only been thinking of her child, i'm not a parent, i cant directly relate to it, but it was bugging my mind that if she loved her child so much, why did she put her child in care? I cant help but wonder if she twisted the story to make herself look better. 2) This woman kept trying to make out she was religous, saying that her role in life was to help others, and yet, at other times, she continually expressed her disgust and contempt. 3) One more thing, when she was about to leave, he asked her if she would visit him in prison, she said yes. But on the chat show she said she wouldnt, saying that her part had been done. She may have done it at the time to save her life, but this man made a mistake, and she got him to surrender, saying it would be better for him. Whether this man had taken her hostage or not, if she believes her role is to do good to the world then she should have tried to uphold her promise, otherwise she would just be teaching this man that forgiveness is an illusion. There were many more reasons, but i cant actually remember them because it was quite a while ago. But i just remember thinking that this murderer didnt deserve to die no matter what, and that this woman had lost a lot of my respect. I felt she had commercialised her experience, and that she was half glad it happened... By the way, on a lighter note, thanks to 'worldofcheese' for telling the name of the film was 'mercury rising', ironically first named 'mercury falling'...