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THE QUESTION
Scotland's 'Mercy' for the Lockerbie Bomber
Scotland freed the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber last week so he could die at home in Libya. "Our beliefs dictate that justice be served, but mercy be shown," a Scottish official said. Did Scotland do the right thing? Should we have any mercy for mass murderers who are terminally ill?
Posted by
Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on August 25, 2009 3:30 AM
FROM THE PANEL
What Is Justice for Lockerbie?
All the moral choices are cloudy and tangled in this case. When you go inward you see in yourself all the elements that clash here: mercy, anger, compassion, revenge, high-mindedness, impartiality, bias, and fairness exist side by side.
Posted by Deepak Chopra, on August 27, 2009 8:03 PM
Myopic Mercy Cannot Undo Bad Karma
Vindictive punishment by mere mortals can too saddle those inflicting punishment with negative karmas, even if they seem justified. Behold the importance of ahimsa, or non-violence, in the Hindu ethos.
Posted by Aseem Shukla, on August 26, 2009 11:04 PM
Forgetting How to Forgive
We show mercy to those whom we regard as scumbags because we are better than them. We forgive those who trespass against us because we do not wish to stoop down to their level.
Posted by Arun Gandhi, on August 26, 2009 2:47 PM
Misdirected Compassion?
While I personally support the UK's banning of capital punishment, the Scottish legal system needs to rethink what compassion means and to whom it should be directed.
Posted by Ramdas Lamb, on August 26, 2009 5:25 AM
Lockerbie: Justice, Mercy, and Reputation
Only God is capable of setting things right after wrongdoing. Our jurisprudence can only approximate justice. But our vengeance, in violating love and forgiveness, is in itself unjust.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on August 25, 2009 5:32 PM
Scotland's False Compassion is No Compassion At All
The Scottish government took the path of least resistance; the one of least responsibility and the one which made them feel best about themselves. That is neither compassionate nor is it just.
Posted by Brad Hirschfield, on August 25, 2009 4:04 PM
The Angel of Death Lives Also in Libya
The freeing of terminally ill criminals can have only one justification: to save on the cost of medical treatment. It does seem strange that elements of compassion should emerge in these cases.
Posted by Adin Steinsaltz, on August 25, 2009 2:40 PM
The Limit of Mercy
The limit of mercy is the limit of faith.
Posted by Mathew N. Schmalz, on August 25, 2009 12:53 PM
Mercy a Commandment, Not a Legal Requirement
We people of the Book are commanded to show mercy. That is a given. But we have to be very careful about moving too quickly from mercy as an individual disposition and pardon as a legal act.
Posted by Richard Mouw, on August 25, 2009 12:30 PM
Scotland: Mercy Without Empathy
Governments cannot, and they should not, aspire to the heights of religious transcendence. They should make decisions that are accountable, and part of Scotland's accountability was to the magnitude of this crime and the suffering of the victims and their families.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on August 25, 2009 12:21 PM
A View from Scotland's Next-Door Neighbor
I haven't fully made up my mind about the release of the man convicted but I sense that the reaction in America may not fully understand how many people here see things.
Posted by Nicholas T. Wright, on August 25, 2009 11:04 AM
Shame on Scotland
Scotland has made a mockery of justice. Ask the families of the 270 people al-Megrahi murdered.
Posted by Charles "Chuck" Colson, on August 25, 2009 9:58 AM
When Vengeance and Compassion Collide
The fact is that neither execution nor the amount of time the Lockerbie bomber spends in prison will make the least difference to any of the dead.
Posted by Herb Silverman, on August 25, 2009 4:47 AM
Immoral, Unthinkable and Unforgivable
The release of the Lockerbie bomber was immoral, unthinkable, unforgivable.
Posted by David Wolpe, on August 24, 2009 6:51 PM
Serving Neither Justice Nor Mercy
An unrepentant mass murderer doesn't need to be released from prison to be shown mercy.
Posted by Matt Maher, on August 24, 2009 6:20 PM
The Real Motivation: Mercy or Money?
Even when mercy should be shown, it is not the usual way of governmental action. So, when Scotland's MacAskill kept talking about mercy, I kept wondering what was really up.
Posted by Susan K. Smith, on August 24, 2009 4:37 PM
Dying A Natural Death: Sufficient Mercy For A Mass Murderer
The Scottish justice secretary was wrong. The Lockerbie murderer deserved to die in prison, not to return home to be greeted as a hero.for participating in the murder of 270 people on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on August 24, 2009 8:40 AM
FEATURED COMMENTS
gjkbear: When the US Military shoots down a plane of people (which it has been proven this man was retaliating for) and if the soldier/s who did the ...
jannpage1: Gosh. I must have missed the qualifies in the Christian scriptures on God's justice and mercy. All I could find was in the Beatitudes on bei...
MGT2: Properly considered, mercy says more about the giver than it does about the reciever. Mercy does not comment on the deeds, it only says that...
