I thought the Monday Mission questions were kinda lame this week (though the effort in crafting them is always appreciated), but then I ran across the Saturday Scruples! (Which, of course, is now being discontinued due to the busyness of the person who does it, dagnabbit.)
1. You are filling out your income tax form. Do you declare every cent you are supposed to declare?
Hmmmm. What are the chances the IRS would look at my blog in conjunction with an audit …?
I do try to bring a high level of ethical conduct to my tax filings, and end each year with a clear conscience that I have done what I can to sift through the Godawful Mess Which Is Our Tax Code in a fair and accurate fashion.
2. You find an expensive pen in a public lounge. Do you keep it?
Yes, but I leave contact information with the front desk, in case someone reports it missing. (I hate expensive pens. I lose pens all the time. I’d probably take this one and stick it on my dresser for use at Important Functions.)
3. A grisly murder in your area causes an outcry and a referendum on capital punishment. Do you vote to restore the death penalty?
I am a firm believer in the death penalty. There are crimes for which folks deserve to fry, but that’s pretty subjective. A better argument by far is that there are crimes for which the perpetrator is too dangerous to be allowed to live — even amongst a prison population for the rest of their natural life.
On the other hand, I have slowly become convinced that our judicial system, while overall pretty decently fair, has enough kinks in it, especially in high-profile capital trials, that I’m not certain the death penalty is being administered appropriately enough with a sufficient degree of confidence.
There have been too many cases, among the relatively small number of death penalty trials in this country, where there was, after decades of appeals, vindication for the accused. I don’t demand 100% accuracy. I’d like confidence it was something better than 70%, though.
That being the case, I’d have to say no.
If I were convinced to a moral certainty that the accused was guilty, though, and the victim was someone I loved … well, what are the chances that the police would look at my blog in conjunction with a second murder investigation?