Cheries, If you pluck out your own eye and cast it at me I am not morally (or otherwise) compelled to do likewise. I don�t have a simple answer to the complex circumstances surrounding a particular instance of wrong-doing. Until all the facts are in I am satisfied with having a potentially dangerous criminal remanded to the custody of those whose function is to protect society from harm.
I define a human being in the most basic terms by the characteristic that best describes us in terms of our relationship to the rest of reality which is that we are animals and by what distinguished us from all other creatures in that group which is our rationality.
When you consider all things in reality of which we have knowledge, the smallest group of things for which we as humans share a relationship is animals. The broadest characteristic that distinguishes us from this group is our rationality. Based on these criteria, in the most basic terms we are by definition rational animals and therefore, when we cease to be rational we no longer comply with this definition of what it is to be human.
Rationality is not only our means of survival but, in as far as we are aware, is the crowning achievement of the process of evolution. The ability we as humans share, to conceptualize and reason offers us the potential to grasp the nature of the universe, our place within it and our relationship to it and each other. The use of this ability presents us with a wide range of alternatives to choose from and therefore demands the creation of a moral code to guide our choices and determine our actions. The basis on which this moral code should rest should be the promotion of the survival and well-being of this unique and most exquisite creature which is the human being. We give the universe meaning not only by defining and appreciating what it is but by virtue of this ability, being in it.
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