Reply #8: I had a discussion about this with a friend of mine a few years back [View All]

[Tab]

His position was, a crime is a crime.

My point was, we already have graduated degrees of criminality. There's killing a person, but it's mitigated by "self-defense", "he was robbing me", "he was beating my child", to neutral ones like "he was in my way during a robbery", and on the opposite end of the spectrum, "he was a nigger/honky/fag/whatever".

So, if we're going to grant leniency for more "acceptable" reasons for killing, then likewise (my argument went) we should more greatly penalize the lesser acceptable reasons for killing (e.g.: indifference first, and then hate). Although, for me, it's a toss-up between indifference and hate. Both are reprehensible.

- Tab