maybe its our government we should accuse for the men that sit on death row faught for this country and maybe their mental illness is because of wars they have faught for our freedoms...hmmm a thought. mental illness is something we as a people need to look at before we go and kill someone for having it
 

Having been struck by the malady of mental illness myself, I felt particularly encouraged to respond to your blog about mental illness and executions. This comes from experience and self-speculation rather than mere opinion: Mental Illness is as real as life itself...and for some, it IS life and all of life's contents. I know that had I not been locked up in the psychiatric ward during the vicissitudes of the affects of my schizo-affective bi-polar disorder a few years ago that there is no telling what may have happened as a result of my actions. Ultimately, I was not in charge; it were almost as though my brain chemistry had the reigns and the horse of my head was gonna take off in whatever direction the synapses saw fit.
But, I was locked up in the Bible Belt's Bedlam or the Marriott for the Mentally Ill, if you will....a very swank hospital for crazy people like myself. I can honestly say that I do NOT remember the things I did during that time, I was unaware of any consequences of my behavior at the time and the voices in my head spoke louder than any voice of reason spoken to me by friends and loved ones.
Fact of the matter is, when one is sick, truly sick with mental illness, they are not in charge of themselves. They are, at that time, a slave to their particular diagnoses which dictates what they will and will not do on any given day during the period they are sick.
Should we execute someone for being diabetic and going into a diabetic coma? I don't think so. Mental illness is much the same. It is a medical condition with consequences and results over which the victim of the illness has virtually no control.
Gregory Thompson has been mentally ill for quite a long time. And there are many others as well. I personally have never used my psychiatric disorders as an excuse but I have had every right to do so. The valid excuse for me when I was sick and for any one else, including those on Death Row is: Our conscience didn't dictate to us what to do. Our diseases decided what we would do, our actions, our thoughts, our obsessions and compulsions, not us. We didn't choose to be sick. Any yes it is true, many times we didn't know right from wrong. Every thing was obscured by the illness and warped by our disorders. We were not in control, just like if you have diabetes and take in too much sugar, you will end up in a coma. Only with diabetes you can control your sugar intake, if you are rational and not mentally ill.
And, medicine you may ask....well, sometimes it takes months to regulate and level one out with meds and it is all trial and error (much like that for the condemned: there is a Trial and then Error if they are given the Death Penalty and are mentally ill)
But the meds do not always work and the indigent folks sometimes just cannot afford their medicine.
Do I think the mentally ill should not receive the Death Sentence. You better believe that's my position!
Just like someone with an IQ of 63 may not be fully aware of what they are doing and therefore should not be considered competant to stand trial.
When I look back on the era when I was sick, I wasn't even competant enough to realize that if I attempted suicide that it would hurt those who loved me. I wasn't competant enough to realize that suicide was a permanent solution for a temporary probelm. And lastly, it wouldn't have dawned on me that no, I would not be waking up the next morning. When you are sick, your thinking capacity is greatly diminished....trust me, I know this.
So, long story short, those who are mentally ill and commit murder are totally unaware of the reality of what they are doing, if they are, indeed, truly sick with a psychiatric illness. So, in all seriousness, that makes them about as responsible as someone with an IQ of 34.
Why is Tennessee trying to murder peoppple who are mentally ill? Hypothetical question but still something to ponder.
 

I don't know how causal the relationship between serving in the armed forces and mental illness is. However, I do think that we owe our veterans who suffer from mental illness (in fact everyone who suffers from mental illness) better treatment. In Gregory Thompson's case, when the Navy noticed radical changes in his behavior (brought on by mental illness), they didn't treat him, they dishonourably discharged him. When we see these symptoms developing, we should provide the most complete care possible. Not only do our veterans deserve it, but early treatment can prevent tragedies such as the one that struck Daryl Holton's family.

Thanks for your comment, Mark.
 

Life for a human being is so very fragile and also mysterious. I think that the author of Life, God, who is at once the creator of Human Life, and yet not a creature, is also the one who decides when to call us home...as some say. Personally, I think we are called home when we have attempted the tasks and challenges life puts in front of us. Whether we succeed in these tasks doesn't. We are all sinners, we are all deficient in someway, we are all lacking in the things that matter, so who are we to judge life and death. Punishment for crimes, absolutely, but leave life and death to God.

We humans have tried euthanasia and abortion as if it were we humans who have the right to give life or give death. Have you ever seen the trash barrel of aborted babies. This is deeply and morally corrupt, no matter which, or whose, or no God one believes in.

What matters is intending to do as God asks, using our God given gifts and talents and passions.

In a group of people on a mediation weekend in Manhattan, the speaker said, when you die there will be two dates on your tombstone.. your date of birth and the date of death. Neither matters, what does matter is that somewhere in between those two dates, typically the dash on the tombstone, is that somewhere along this dash, you jumped into life and were no longer simply a spectator. God is both the Giver and Taker of Life and we should honor that. Thank you , Grace