How I came to oppose the death penalty.

I once supported the death penalty. Not anymore. My reason? I do not believe that any government in this country, state or federal, has the competence to guarantee a fair and impartial trial.

I was friends with a Hell's Angel member way back. He was a plumber. I managed a Thrifty Drug Store. He hosted a poker game once a week and we also played chess. We shared a fondness for Kentucky straight bourbon. He was an army vet who served in Germany in the mid 50s. He told me a story about his biker days in Barstow CA. A drunk driver killed one of their members in front of a bar one night. He said they took him out in the desert and tried him for murder. Found him guilty. Hung him.

I believe vengeance is the Lord's domain and that killing another human being is only acceptable in self defense.

The draft made that impossible until it was ended way back when after Vietnam. Lots of American teens were conscripted and ordered to kill little Asian dudes to prevent Russia from taking over the world. As an ignorant fool I volunteered for the draft and got turned down because I was on probation in Orange County.

Some desk sergeant reclassified me and said "We don't want thieves in the army".

What a joke.

Judges were telling guys to enlist or go to jail. In the long run it worked out. I got married that year and started a family. Never bought into the hippy bullshit. Never lost that fondness for Kentucky straight either, thank God, because those spirits drove me into the arms of my savior 25 years later. I trust Him with the power of life or death.

Not us and especially not any of our government functionaries.