On Sat, 12 Feb 2005, lazarus wrote: > On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:31:38 -0800 (PST), you wrote: > > > >On Fri, 11 Feb 2005, Steve Brust wrote: > >> > >> 1. Backward nations have not yet abandoned the barbaric practice of > >> capital punishment. > > > >This is more or less a religious argument - I happen to oppose capital > >punishment, but experience shows that such nations are capable of > >responsible possesion of nukes. > > But capital punishment is still a barbaric practise. Some might say that the practice of raising animals for slaughter is barbaric. Or abortion. Or worshipping gods. Or contact sports. Or girl's gymnastics at the ruin-the-skeleton level. Or burning hydrocarbons. Or spending time reading books and discussing them instead of devoting those hours to improving the lot of the downtrodden.