OK. Being as we had a functioning society when we hanged horse thieves, rustlers, footpads, card cheaters, robbers, thieves, and burglars, I agree that death is appropriate for these two burglars.
If you subscribe to Biblical principles...
OK. I'll go with Thou Shalt Not Steal, Thou Shalt Not Covet, and thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness, and I agree that Smith should administer the punishment.
Shooting s thief(burglar) who is down and no longer a threat in a well-lit situation is different.Execution or coup-de-grace shots are not part of normal self-defense training,nor is bragging about it afterwards.
I never asserted such, I only assert that your liberal definition of "no longer a threat" is betting someone else's life on your opinion.
The two burglars were in the wrong and if the old man was threatened then he had the right to defend himself,...
Well, we do agree on something. Suppose we consider at this point what would have happened if the two burglars had just decided to NOT got to Smith's home and steal his stuff?
How many people would Smith have killed? How angry would Smith have become? How many families would have destroyed? How many people on either side would be so offended?
Now consider the same questions if the two had decided NOT to commit their first burglary. Who had the power here, and who had the responsibility?
I think (the) fictional Sheriff Taylor of Mayberry...
That's the best thing about fiction, it allows ya to commit False Witness from a non existent platform of moral superiority.
No jackboots needed.
However, that's exactly what you will get. It's a standard socialist tactic of coddling and protecting criminals to con the public to trade freedom for security, and the socialists deliver control instead of security to the useful idiots who give them power.
Freedom doesn’t mean killing and hiding evidence with impunity anymore than it means robbing someone’s home with impunity.
I never said that, you did.
You have a warped idea of freedom.
And there is the setup for the act of false witness.
Gosh I bet you would win a game of twister!
Look,the old man BRAGGED about shooting the burglars when they were down;and he had time to drag the man out of sight and wait to ambush the young woman.Yes,ambush is exactly the right word for waiting concealed and then shooting when the other person comes into sight.Yet he had no time to call the police?
I would not want that old man as my neighbor;his actions and words will convict him.
BY the way,the Nazis had a functioning society;I prefer a more enlightened one.
Ever read or see Les Miserables ? I suppose you think the man life should have been forfeit for stealing a loaf of bread ?
Oh yes, one Biblical commandment :Thou Shalt Not Murder(at least I have it on authoriy that was the original Aramic-not thou shalt not kill.)
The homeowner appears to have gone beyond defense to murder.We shall see what the law makes of it.