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[ayoub]

An unanswerable letter

For me, this letter shows that rehabilitation is possible... So is self reconciliation with fate...

It shows that the ultimate price for the ultimate crime may still be too steep.

It shows that governments who do not take care of the underprivileged are raising people who have no choice but to commit crime...

It makes me feel there is some hope for the human race...

Here is a man who killed another man for $300, and yet his words are lucid, intelligent, and peaceful. I read regret for his actions, and for his environment. He was willing to pay his price, to atone for his sins, and yet, he still wonders what could have been...

Maybe it was how Coelho's writings affected him... Maybe it was his certain fate... Who knows... But the letter brought me to tears..

Comments

[kay.livejournal.com]

What do you think of it?

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I just updated the post with my thoughts :)

[kay.livejournal.com]

What makes you think he did it? It's a public secret that when you're black, poor and at the wrong time in the wrong place in the US you have a very big chance of being convicted of something you didn't do and you could end up dying for it. That's one of the things, aside from the no rehabilitation part, why I'm glad we don't have a death sentence.

The lack of rehabilitation also causes problems ... I can imagine when you go to jail there you have to toughen up or you won't survive. It shapes you. Prison there is not what it is here ... but there are people who come out after several years, and who then become a real threat to society.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

The main reason why I think he did, is that he mentions his environment, rather than pleading his innocence... In the hands of a better lawyer, he may have got a lesser sentence...

[kay.livejournal.com]

He seems too intelligent to me to plead his innocence knowing he's about to dye. It would be a waste his time doing something that wouldn't get him anywhere anyway, it's not what wanted, he made peace with his exceution. I really can't say he came across as a cold blooded murderer.

[cmerun12.livejournal.com]

We must have differing views. Because all I read was someone who wants to die. Who wants whatever they believe is on the other side of death. I didn't read any remorse.

*shrugs*

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

The remorse I read is in his acceptance of his fate...

I believe that nobody can have that kind of spiritual freedom if they do not regret and repent for their actions...

Heh... I do tend to read a lot into things :)

[cmerun12.livejournal.com]

Reread it with the eyes of a cynic. There is no remorse. There's acceptance, but no remorse.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

Education can be enhanced in prisons here. You know this. there is time to read the books. In my town, they even send prisoners to college. ::shrugs:: i saw what you saw. i dont know if the penalty was right. i havent researched the crime. i am hard pressed to be the judge. yet i am not the victim's loved one either.

[cmerun12.livejournal.com]

And this is where we differ... I don't believe in paying for prisoners college educations. They're in PRISON, not club med. This particular prisoner's crime was so bad they received the death penalty.

Where in there does is say "Oh, by the way - here's a free college education to go along with it. We'll wait until you've got your degree, then carry out your sentence."

My apologies, but this is a hot button for me.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

actually we are on the same page here

[alainn-mactire.livejournal.com]

Wow...

I think it's a beautiful letter...so sad, so much faith and peace from someone who is facing being murdered by the state...

Just wow.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yeah...

I was left speechless for a bit after reading it...

[the-ravyn.livejournal.com]

Yes, too bad his victim didn't get the same chance...

[issabellablue.livejournal.com]

Very sad indeed.
Sad for the victim of his violence too.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yes... To both... And the families both have left behind...

Devil's Advocate here...

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

I want to preface this by writing that this isn't intended to piss anyone off or to disrespect anyone. I respect everyone reading these comments, even if I might not agree with their point of view. What you're about to read is simply my point of view.

If remorse exists for the condemned, it exists because he's being killed and he doesn't want to die under those circumstances. Also, I don't believe for one second that he's at peace with his fate. He's just deluding himself with the help of an enabling audience (Coelho) until the inevitable execution.

"Transcending?" Are you fucking kidding me? He's a murderer who got caught and wants to be more than what he denied himself of. That's his "remorse;" not for murdering his victim, but for murdering his future as well, and now he wants to showcase his tragedy to an internationally well-published author as a short cut.

With the sole exception that the victim-maker wrote well, there is nothing incredible about his letter. There's no merit in a murderer saying to an author, "You know, I'm feeling pretty good!" (and yes, I meant to trivialize his work).

I've met plenty of folks who came from truly horrific social environments that knew right from wrong. No, this man's fate lies solely upon his decisions, and Texas is notorious for executing murderers. He knew better. He didn't give a shit about life when he took it, so why should anyone give a shit about his life just because he's decided to wax philosophical? And how come Coelho didn't mention the victim, or the circumstance's of THEIR death? Is the murderer's thoughts worth more because he has a good grasp of how to express himself literally? What would the victim say? We'll never know because he's dead; brutally ripped from the world by a monster who can write, over $300.

There's an old saying in the deep south that came out of the Wild West: "Some folks just need a-killin'."

Good riddance.

Re: Devil's Advocate here...

[the-ravyn.livejournal.com]

Preach it, brother!  I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment.

Re: Devil's Advocate here...

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

So why does the devil have the best advocates? ;)

I'm certainly not offended!

And I can see your point, but I will continue to hope for good in everyone... And hope that even the most heinous people can find a way to reform themselves...

A few years back, I met an old classmate, and we were discussing what everyone was doing... 90% of my graduating year did time. Thankfully, I wasn't one of them...

Environment has a lot to answer for... And so do lawyers... Think about it... This guy killed for 300 bucks, and is now dead, but O.J. walks free?

A woman gets 5 years for doing Coke on a first bust, and Kate Moss walks free?

In the hands of a better lawyer, this guy may have gotten only a life sentence... Who knows?

My only point here is this: Until the system of justince is ABSOLUTELY perfect, there is no place for an ABSOLUTE punishment...

Re: Devil's Advocate here...

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

What are you talking about, mate? Kate Moss IS coke!

I'm glad you didn't take offence. I sat there re-reading the damned post for a good 10 minutes before hitting Post Comment, and then I crossed my fingers!

You know, I have to conceid and agree with you in that environment can be a great contributing factor. In spite of this, I'm not willing to dismiss environment as the greatest contributing factor because even someone with an IQ in the high 80's and 90's know right from wrong.

I don't think there's good in everyone; rather I know there's good in everyone. In fact, I know that the divine exists in everyone. So does the diabolical, but that's another matter. Miracles come from the divine spark within people as they comprehend or recognize it. Best of all, it really does not matter which system of spirituality you subscribe to. Whether you're putting on an adhesive bandage to a paper cut or laying hands to make the crippled walk, they're all miracles. Kind of goes along with what Jules was saying in Pulp Fiction: "It could be God stopped the bullets, he changed Coke to Pepsi, he found my fuckin' car keys." I think that people might be the merging of the divine and the diabolical at the being's spiritual fulcrum.

When someone goes to an extreme, even for a moment, there's a residual resonance to the act, like the crash of a cymbal. If you strike it to hard, you can't hear the flute. With the murderer, it was too little, too late. I don't believe in absolutes, and I don't think that execution is any sort of absolute because death is a given anyway. Whether a man is executed or gets life without parole, it doesn't matter; what does matter - and to me this is the crucial difference - is how we are haunted by him. In his death, he can only make us put our rightious indignations under a more powerfully critical microscpope. If he's alive, he can say what he wants at us with impunity. He can get his cronies to act on his behalf, sometimes to dire effect.