Three RCMP officers made the ultimate sacrifice in Moncton last week.
I was deeply saddened by this tragic news, and as I've come to learn more about the circumstances of the massacre, righteous indignation has welled up inside of me. For it is becoming increasingly clear that the lone gunman fully intended to murder these officers and had carefully planned the trap he would spring on them. Because of that, I am convinced there really is only one penalty that will serve justice for a crime this heinous: death.
To be clear, the gunman will not be sentenced to death for two reasons. First, Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976, and second, even if a bill was passed tomorrow allowing for convicted murderers to be executed, the principles of fundamental justice would not allow such a law to be applied retroactively to the gunman. But that doesn't change the philosophic point at hand: those who have intentionally taken other's lives have forfeited the right to their own.
How this simple, natural law was undermined in our society positively stuns me. People cite the "countless" wrongful convictions of past judges and juries, but if these same people believe in progress, then surely we've progressed past using race and political allegiance as excuses to hang a man. Doesn't that make capital punishment legitimate now more than ever? But that's not the real reason of course, as one glance at our media will tell us; for you can only be utterly horrified and whipped up into a frenzy at the monstrous actions of others if you truly believe there are no monsters among us.
We in Canada, and much of the West, have bought into the illusion that man is mostly good, and it is his environment that makes him evil. These are excuses made for everyone from mass murderers to shoplifters; it is far easier to live in a world where we assume evil possesses us by some outside force or repressed memory rather than a world where there are truly bad people who have wholly surrendered to the evil desires we all struggle to overcome.
One can only hope that the terrible events in New Brunswick will shake this false assumption from our leaders and fellow citizens, and bring them back to reality.
In a world where people truly understand that mankind is flawed, inherently self-interested, and always capable of moral choice, people will recall the core principle of capital punishment: murder is a crime for which no amount of prison time can repay. While the Almighty may have mercy for murderers, our communities cannot. Every breath the convicted murder draws is an affront to life they took, and a constant source of pain to the families of those murdered. Furthermore, without the death penalty, why should anyone fear the repercussions of taking one life or several? A lifetime of free room and board, medical care, as well as many months of fame awaits - not a bad deal for killing innocents or murdering a neighbour who happened to tick you off.
In the end, Canadians need to make a fundamental shift in their attitudes, regardless of what is decided in the legislature. We may think we live in nice, friendly Canada, but the fact of the matter is that all humans are capable of great evil. Also, murderers should not get the fame they desire, which is why you don't see the gunman's name printed here.
But most importantly, we need to decide what justice really means in the context of this latest atrocity and others that are bound to come. Because in the end, a community that doesn't feel that the courts can give them justice for the violence they have suffered will begin to take matters into its own hands.
At least, I know I would be tempted to if I lived in Moncton.
