Reply #1: More important than revenge [View All]

[Dogmudgeon]

Russell Henderson, alive and well-treated by the law, will forever be an icon of anti-gay hatred. If he "reforms" even a tiny little bit, the knowlege of his crime will gnaw into his brain like a hungry worm.

In addition, every three or five years (or whatever the term is), he comes up for parole, and it allows the topic of hate crime out of its own closet for a week or two, at least. The Republicans and Conservatives have marginalized hate-crime discussions. Henderson serves as living proof of the need for better legal protection against sexuality-based hatred.

If we kill the bastard, the world forgets about him. No object-lesson, no symbol of hatred, and one less reason to seek better hate-crime law and to remember the life of Matthew Shepard.

Russell Henderson's life is effectively over, anyway. Let him live with that for another 50 or 60 years -- and then, a quick decent into the Lake of Fire, if his fellow gay-hating "Christians" are right.

The continued existence of Russell Henderson hurts. Let's not be selfish with our pain.

--bkl