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Old 03-21-2007, 03:41 PM   #3
Mithalwen
Pilgrim Soul
 
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle...
Posts: 9,459
Mithalwen is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Mithalwen is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Mithalwen is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Mithalwen is lost in the dark paths of Moria.
Well my country doesn't execute either murderers or the mentally ill ..theoretically it could execute a traitor, I believe...

For me Gandalf's words, were a factor in shaping my opinions on the death penalty, but given that ME is a world where capital punishment exists I will leave that to one side.

Gollum was tortured in Mordor - if he wsa "relatively unharmed" it was because he was so damaged already ...

You cannot punish people for things that they might do - well the state can't (to no doubt misquote PJ O'Rourke in "Parliament of Whores", "the supreme court can not punish you for having a smart look on your face - which is the difference betwen having a judicial system and having a mother").

Gollum was after the Ring for himself so to that extent, I don't think he was consciously on an errrand for Sauron or his servant .

Gollum's "treachery" if such it was, was essential to the destruction of Sauron.
So I disgree with you other than that I do think, but from a very different perspective, that Gollum deserved his death - as a release from the terrible burden of his life and reunited with his Preciousssss
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