What is my purpose in life? And why am I compelled to ask?

I finally got to see "Lost in Translation " with She Who Puts Up With Me last night. Not your usual Hollywood romance, but both very funny and insightful. We both came out of the theater seeing ourselves in the story.

If you believe as I do, that life is sacred, then can the death penalty ever be morally acceptable? A lot of people would answer "no," but I don't think the answer is that simple. The governor of Massachusetts is trying to find a system which guarantees only the guilty will be executed , but even if you have a perfect system, when is it right to administer the death penalty?

Let me begin by saying that, in general, I oppose the use of the death penalty. My opposition is grounded in the fact that our system of administering capital punishment appears to be deeply flawed, with the ranks of death row populated mostly by people who couldn't successfully find or negotiate a lesser punishment. Actual guilt or innocence seems to have little to do with it, which is bizarre at best, and abhorrent at worst.