Death first-class: Pat Boone takes trip to killer-coddling execution of Jack the Ripp

Death first-class: Pat Boone takes trip to killer-coddling execution of Jack the Ripper

WorldNetDaily.com ^| Saturday, May 6, 2006 | Pat Boone

Posted on 05/06/2006 12:51:40 AM PDT by JohnHuang2

Associated Press 4/26/2006 SUPREME COURT â??

The Supreme Court is considering whether a prisoner can challenge the way he is executed. Convicted murderer claims cruel and unusual punishment.

Come right in, Mr. Ripper; we've been expecting you! Hope you enjoyed your vacation on death row. How was your trip down the hall? No stumbles or detours? Wonderful. Well, we've made everything ready for you, and it should be to your liking. Your marvelous attorneys sent us your rider, detailing your wishes, and I must say â?? they thought of just about everything. What? Oh yes, we had the walls painted a quiet blue, very peaceful, as you see. Soft lighting, nothing harsh or direct. We couldn't locate the Strindberg recording you suggested, but we hope the Mozart etudes will suffice. Very melodic and introspective, and the long play digital CD, at low level, creates a lovely ambiance. You like it? Delightful!

Oh, and the deep shag carpet is a wonderful touch, very thoughtful of you. We here at the prison are enjoying it today, and I'm sure it feels just fine to your bare feet. Yes, we heard you'd been pacing back and forth in that awful, cold cell for months now during your appeal and stay of execution â?? ugh, I just hate that word! â?? and we think we'll just keep that carpet here after you, uh, check out.

How was your meal? You enjoyed it? Oh, I'm glad. We brought in Mr. Wolfgang Puck, as you requested, and he really gave you his best, we think. Our facilities here at the prison aren't up to his standards, certainly, but he's such a genius that he made do with what we have, and created dishes we usually could only dream of! The striped bass was his idea, quite humorous really, and the patÃ© molded into the shape of a human liver was just inspiration, didn't you think? The flaming baked Alaska was a triumph, of course â?? but the warden (he really has no sense of humor, I fear) vetoed the idea of letting you cut your meat with an actual straight razor. Who did he think you might hurt now? Yourself? Oh, well. I'm so glad it met your expectations, anyway.

Starbucks jumped at the chance to brew your last coffee. Someone made a tasteless joke, "hoping it wouldn't keep you awake"â?¦ but you almost expect crassness like that around here, don't you?
May I ask you, Mr. Ripper, and I sincerely hope it doesn't offend you â?? what was it that occasioned your visit with us here today?
Really? Are you serious? Twenty-eight people, mainly women, but several men as well? Most with their throats cut, but some strangled? My word! That must have been ghastly for you! Terribly messy, uncomfortable beyond imagining. â?¦ I suspect most of the victims must have put up awful struggles, screaming and all that, blood just everywhere â?? oh my, I don't know how you endured it! Not many could have done such a thing, I'm sure.

But you say you actually enjoyed it? Amazing. Oh, of course it wasn't done all at once; it couldn't have been. Months of planning sometimes, with periods of rest and reflection in between, I see. Carefully chosen "subjects," dark streets, alone at night and all that. Yes, I understand. But still very stressful, it had to be, making sure you weren't seen or stopped, getting away without being apprehended. And the police, all those detectives, the media frenzy, calling you "Jack the Ripper"; it must have been a terrible ordeal through those years. My, my, my.

Oh, and the trial! People you don't even know saying all kinds of terrible things about you. Dragged on for months, yes I know, and being taken in and out of jail every day to the courtroom, no chance to dress respectably or get your nails done, just all so inconsiderate!

Well, you're here now, and you can just relax. No worries; we're looking after everything, just the way you and your attorneys demanded. Very comfortable, soft, designer jump suit, gauze curtains on the viewing window for the spectators, an excellent makeup artist and professional photographer to record the festivities â?¦ we've tried to think of everything to make your short stay with us memor â?¦uh, as pleasant as it could possibly be.

Can you think of anything we've overlooked? Oh, yes, we have a minister, Right Reverend Olsen, rector of San Francisco's Church of the Misbegotten, and he'll be reading from the newly discovered Gospel of Judas, a fascinating modern touch. AND â?? you'll love this, I'm sure â?? he promises he'll actually break down and cry real tears of sympathy for you! Isn't that grand?

The guards say it's time for you to lie down now, Mr. Ripper. That's it, right there on the special Tempurpedic mattress we brought in specially for you; comfy, isn't it? Conforms to your own body shape, they say. Just drink that little nightcap there, that's right. It's heavy duty Valium to settle your nerves, with a lovely mint flavor. And as you drift off peacefully, you'll never even feel the main injection. Oh, I promise you won't feel any pain at all; just like the best dentists do it â?? you'll just doze blissfully while someone else does the work. That's our motto: "Nobody does you better; you'll love our layaway plan." Oh, you're welcome, sir!
Ahhh â?¦ there you go. Very pleasant, isn't it? That smile on your face is our best reward.

Hope you enjoyed your stay with us, Mr. Ripperâ?¦nitey nite.
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Gentle reader, if this imagined scene seems frivolous or cynical to you, I've missed the mark. This latest attempt to delay or somehow avoid the punishment, the rightful consequence, of inhuman and heartless murder is, to me, itself frivolous and cynical. We Christians have our own dissenting minorities on this, but generally we get beaten up for "hypocrisy" and worse every time we defend capital punishment. Please, then, allow me a concise but, I hope, reasonably precise basis for how I think mainstream Christians (you know, the ones who think it's actually OK to be involved in politics!) generally come by their attitudes in these matters.

Who was it who demanded of His chosen people "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life"? Oh, yes â?¦ God. Is He heartless, uncaring, insensitive? Never. But he gave through Moses the reason for this harsh and final sentence: "You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot"! Deuteronomy 19:19-21
And how was the divinely ordained death penalty to be administered? STONING! Have you ever visualized how that took place? We don't know exactly, since none of us were witness to it, but a recent network version of "The Ten Commandments" gave what was likely a realistic depiction of an execution by stoning. Two offenders were staked to the ground after confessing their fatal transgression, and Moses himself violently hurled the first heavy rock at the head of one of them, perhaps hoping to stun the senses enough that the sinner wouldn't feel the full pain of what was yet to come. And that was sure and certain death.

It was meant to be brutal, horrific and absolutely final. No sedative, no last minute reprieves, no "stays." No consideration of "rehabilitating" a thief, a kidnapper, a murderer. The purposes twofold: 1) to punish the offender, and 2) to make others terribly afraid to commit a like offense. And the serious crime rate among the Israelites was remarkably low. Not surprising, is it?

Yes, 2,000 years later, Jesus directed in His sermon on the mount, "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." Does that seem inconsistent, even contradictory? Not on your life!

We desperately need to grasp this truth: God, through the Mosaic Covenant with a chosen people, a theocracy of His design, spoke concerning the government of His people. Jesus, establishing a "new and better Covenant" with individuals, issued directives to any and all individuals who would choose to follow Him. He never spoke to governments.

There is no inconsistency or contradiction.

In fact (and summation), the same Holy Spirit who spoke through Moses and Jesus also spoke through the Apostle Paul in Romans 13: "The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." This is the Lord speaking to society, to all of us. And further, to the offender: "But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he (the authority) does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

It's clear, biblically, that the Creator never intended to coddle the murderer. His last moments weren't intended for comfort, or even much consideration.
Much like the last moments of his victims.