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Yes, I feel compassion for the victims of horrific crimes too. I can hold both of them in my heart at the same time.

Simultaneously, I can understand the desire for the closure that comes with enacting the death penalty while being completely against it.

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Its not about vengeance or a desire for closure, I simply do not want these people to continue to exist. They offer no benefit to my society, they contribute nothing beneficial and never will, the sooner they are erased the better for society.

Why would I choose to believe that my existence is predicated on my value to society?

The modern project has been one of establishing a reality where individual moral status is inherent, rather than tied to God, the state, ethnicity, or social worth. I don't see a series of steps that would take me from my current stance to any of those. I'd have to overcome a very real moral revulsion.

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