1. Executing Saddam Hussein was an Act of Vandalism

Comment #15879 by rhubarb on January 3, 2007 at 1:21 pm

To answer your question, Dr. Dawkins: No. It's not an act of vandalism.

Vandalism is the willful destruction or damage of property belonging to someone else.

Since when is the mind of any human being – even a Saddam Hussein – the property of anyone besides that particular human being? And how, precisely, could Saddam have been persuaded (or coerced) to give his mind, his property, over to "researchers?" It is possible to restrict a person's freedom; it is possible to take a person's life, which is a serious decision and one not to be undertaken lightly; how does one go about appropriating a mind as though it were independent of an individual's person and declaring it a "unique resource," a "prime specimen" for the collective "we" to use for "research?" It's no wonder someone has already mentioned Mengele.

Initially I thought this idea was creepy. Now I'm convinced it's just damnfoolishness.

You're out of your depth here, too, Dr. Dawkins.