Another flaw with the brothers’ plan is that their method of eliminating evil is by killing, which in itself is often considered evil. As a result, the method seems to be quite hypocritical because they are advocating against murderers, and in turn, are murderers themselves. I believe that the intent of the crime is what is punishable, not necessarily the actual act. If somebody kills because he does not like the way that another person looks, that is punishable. If somebody kills because he does not like the religion that another person practices, that is punishable. If somebody kills because of his own self-interest, that is punishable. However, if somebody kills because he is trying to protect society, that is not punishable. There is a big difference between killing for your own personal satisfaction and killing for the benefit of society.

A good example of this would be the Oklahoma City bombings. On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh drove a Ryder truck filled with 5,000 pounds of explosive material to a United States government office complex in downtown Oklahoma City, and set off the bombs. Other than the attacks on September 11, 2001, this was the largest terrorist attack in the nation’s history. McVeigh explained that he committed this crime in efforts to avenge the death of Branch Davidians, whom he believed had been murdered by federal agents. McVeigh was later sentenced to death and killed via lethal injection (Oklahoma City bombing). In this case, McVeigh would be deserving of being murdered because he was hurting society. He took action based on self-interest, and killed over 150 people. The hypocrisy exists in the fact that the government officials killed him. This is where the idea that intent is the factor that leads to the sentence. It was in the best interest of society that he be killed, and he got what he deserved. For that reason, his murder would not be punishable by death.

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