The Inhumanity Of Life Sentences

One of the most persistent, accepted myths about prison is that it is a more humane alternative to capital punishment.  Though prison might superficially appear to be a more humane thing than execution, examination of any aspect of the issue very quickly reveals otherwise.  In actuality, prison can be a far more inhumane thing than even many of history's most unjust execution methods.  Consider life sentences, which might be suggested instead of the death penalty in certain cases.  Just to clarify the matter up front for new readers, there is absolutely nothing authoritative about a culture's legal traditions, including specific forms of criminal punishment, in themselves.  I am merely showing a major inconsistency in the argument that life sentences are more humane than capital punishment.

To live for hundreds or thousands of consecutive days in confinement might be far more harsh than a simple execution, whether or not the confinement is solitary.  Even without other abominable aspects of the American incarceration system, such as severe prison violence that is often trivialized or ignored by hypocritical thinkers, the mere captivity of someone for an extraordinary length of time can be a far more agonizing thing than basic capital punishment.  The isolation could produce such loneliness and emptiness that a prisoner could easily prefer death to extended imprisonment.  After all, depriving a social being of a large degree of its autonomy and access to its significant relationships is bound to produce severe results.

If atrocities like prison rape--and fuck the conservative Christians who care more about opposing voluntary homosexual marriages than about opposing homosexual assaults in prisons--and the widespread social stigma attached to prison time are acknowledged, it becomes apparent that there is absolutely nothing Biblically just or humane about life sentences.  In fact, it is outright asinine for people to regard prison as a humane thing, especially when they are trying to hold it up as the legitimate solution to the perceived brutality of all capital punishment, regardless of how swift or painless a specific execution process actually is.  Many look at the punishments prescribed by Scripture and recoil in feelings of moral revulsion, yet the punitive system they replace it with is far harsher than even the most stern Biblical penalties.

One of the worst facts about the argument for the humanity of prison is that many Christians, politically conservative and liberal alike, embrace it!  Wherever theonomy is not deeply entrenched in church culture, Christians tend to accept the legal systems of their day, except when it comes to several arbitrary points that they happen to feel strongly about.  It is disturbing that many Christians, like secular people, have given no serious thought to whether or not prison is just, if any thought at all.  It is not surprising, though: shallowness is a common disease.

Logic, people.  It is very fucking helpful.