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{"id":52642,"date":"2014-05-21T00:13:50","date_gmt":"2014-05-21T07:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=52642"},"modified":"2014-12-29T00:18:24","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T07:18:24","slug":"poor-ramesh-ponnuru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/05\/poor-ramesh-ponnuru.html","title":{"rendered":"Poor Ramesh Ponnuru"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

He made the mistake of suggesting to conservative enthusiasts for the culture of death that we should not kill people if we don\u2019t have to<\/a>. One might as well develop Tourette\u2019s Syndrome in Church in some sectors of conservative thought, where the question is intensely focused \u201cWhen do we *get* to kill people?\u201d The death penalty is, for people focused on that question, a rich and fertile ground for finding people you *get* to kill, and kill with relish. All one need do is read the comboxes after any news piece on an execution and all that rubbish about abstract interest in \u201cretributive justice\u201d melts away. It\u2019s wall-to-wall \u201cI just wish we could have tortured the bastard to death\u201d and displays of the most gruesome sort of glee, reminiscent of nothing so much as the gloating mob at the foot of the Cross. <\/p>\n

Anyway, in the flood of hostility Ponnuru received (largely from \u201cprolife\u201d conservatives<\/a>), somebody managed to actually translate \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t kill people if we don\u2019t absolutely need to\u201d as \u201cExecute more white people.\u201d Ponnuru, with the patience of Job, replies to that lunatic charge here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"