My nephew sang a song for me. He left a message on my phone, a hint of a lisp and laughter in the background. He is 4 years old. I’ll never erase it.
There are millions of children out there. They are singing, laughing, smiling and hugging their moms. They are also crying, making scenes, hitting other kids and generally laying siege on peace and quiet.
In other words, they’re learning to be just like the rest of us.
Whenever a child dies it is a tragedy. With that small body also dies future friendships, future loves and future generations. The destruction of one small seed can destroy an entire forest.
We all react differently. We let a few tears fall, perhaps. We are enraged. We want the world to make sense again.
I’ve read about how sweet 7-year-old Hser Nay Moo was and the touching words of her father.
“I had one daughter in the world, and I loved her the most,” Cartoon Wah said.
I’ve also read comments, such as this one found on KSL.com, that offer a different outlook on the crime: “After the trial, there needs to be a hanging. Let’s do this at the
largest arena in the state and sell tickets. The proceeds go to pay for the trial and the rest go to the victim’s family. People used to come from miles around to see a hanging. I for one would buy tickets to watch.”
I found the word “hanging” a lot on KSL.com. In fact, I found it mentioned more than 60 times.
The problem with the death of a child is that we’ll never see who he or she could have been as adults. He or she could have grown up to be kind and forgiving like Cartoon Wah. He or she could also have grown up and paid to see a man hanged in a stadium.
It is easy to read comments like this with disgust. We are a civil society — yet one of the only world powers that condones the death penalty. There are 135 countries around the world that have abolished it completely. Still, I am torn.
On the one hand, I can read that 91 percent of all executions are performed in six countries: China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and the United States. Are these the countries we choose to be in league with?
I can read that since 1973, more than 125 people have been released from death rows because of new evidence of their wrongful convictions. Are we a nation that would take an innocent life to appease our need for personal vengeance?
Yet, on the other hand — the hand that holds a child’s tight as we cross the street — I understand the anger. If Esar Met is found guilty, if he brutally murdered this girl, I do not see why he should continue to live.
It’s easy to take the liberal view, to speak poetically about the sanctity of life and ride off on your high horse. It’s quite another when the child is your own — your son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter, niece or nephew.
My nephew sang me a song. I’ll never erase it. If anyone took him away, given the chance, I would kill them. I wouldn’t think twice about it. I would understand if anyone chose to do that.
The death penalty is flawed, and for that reason alone it should be abolished — but it does not mean there are not people who deserve to die.
Give Esar Met a fair trial. Let the court decide. If he must die, then so be it. Do not take the news cheering from a stadium seat. He was also a seed — one that chose to plant his feet on fallow ground.
If you truly have reverence for life, mourn the death of Hser Nay Moo, and mourn the life of Esar Met, as well.