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Many troubling questions continue to surround the execution of Timothy McVeigh, now
postponed to at least June 11. Should the media ignore his last minute political rantings?
Will McVeigh ever express some remorse for his actions? A question that has received far
less attention, however, is the most difficult of all: Should McVeigh be executed at all?
After several years researching and writing a book about capital punishment, we have come
to believe the answer to that question is, No --- even if he expresses no remorse, and
even if some of the victim's families feel it will bring them relief, even
"closure."
As a man who killed 168 people and since has shown not a glimmer of contrition, McVeigh is
as strong a candidate for the death penalty as America has ever produced. Moreover, he has
decided against any further appeals, in a sense taking the matter into his own hands.
Carrying out his execution would seem to be a no-brainer. But is it?
Despite its seeming logic, many people are surprisingly uneasy about the execution. Some
family members of people killed by his Oklahoma City bomb want him to linger longer and
suffer more; a quick, relatively painless death is "too easy" for him. A few
others wish to give him additional time to demonstrate a measure of repentance ---
something he failed to do for the authors of the current bestseller AMERICAN TERRORIST.
Still others have expressed the concern that by executing him, on the date of his
choosing, we are simply doing what he wants us to do, and we should naturally resist any
of this murderer's wishes.
Indeed, what he wants us to do is to render himself a bona fide martyr to the murderous
fringe of the radical right in this country.
Certainly he demonstrated a strong awareness of this transmission of martyrdom in his
choice of the date, April 19, 1995, for his murderous act: the third anniversary of the
ill-advised general assault on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. In fact, he recently
told his father quite clearly that "Waco" was the main inspiration for his
Oklahoma City bombing. Perhaps less appreciated, the day of the attack was also the
scheduled execution date of another right-wing murderer, Richard Wayne Snell. And it was
the date of the 1992 attack by federal marshals on the home of Randy Weaver, a
right-wing tax resister, whose wife and son were subsequently killed by federal gunfire.
Martyrs can feel themselves rewarded by the promise of immortality. A martyr seeks to
connect himself to a chain of "heroic" acts and therefore immortalize himself.
Here we must keep in mind McVeigh's passionate attachment to the neo-Nazi novel of
martyrdom, THE TURNER DIARIES, whose hero loses his life for the revolution of the white
race against the American government.
McVeigh's execution, therefore, would complete his contribution to what has been called
"holy terrorism" and inspire more violence (or at least contribute to a culture
of violence) in this continuous transmission of martyrology.
As a cold-blooded death machine, McVeigh is America's Hitler or Eichmann. Even some
passionate opponents of the death penalty have hesitated to raise objections to his
execution. We too believe he has forfeited his right to a free life. But should the state
kill him? We do not think so.
A democratic state should make no claim to the ownership of death, as we make clear in our
book, WHO OWNS DEATH? In moral terms, in taking his life, we become too much like
him. In practical terms, there is hardly a shred of evidence that his execution will deter
other terrorists --- indeed, it may inspire them. And as scores of murder victim families
have previously testified --- and we have talked with some of them --- closure is illusory
following executions, as it fails to bring a loved one back or end the pain of loss. In
fact, awaiting for McVeigh's execution has already caused so much additional pain and
suffering.
We must interrupt the chain of martyrology that could bring so much additional violence to
our country. The FBI's bungling of court records has already, no doubt, given McVeigh
pleasure. For both ethical and pragmatic reasons, Timothy McVeigh should be sentenced to
life imprisonment --- without the slightest possibility of parole.
**********
Mitchell and Lifton are co-authors of WHO OWNS DEATH?: Capital Punishment, the American
Conscience, and the End of Executions, recently published by William Morrow. Mitchell is
the author of JOY IN MUDVILLE and other
boosk. Lifton is perhaps best known for his classic studies THE NAZI DOCTORS and
DEATH IN LIFE.
--- Greg Mitchell and Robert Jay Lifton
(c)
Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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