Sad Note: Couple Murdered By Pirates Were Dropping Off Bibles In Ports of Call

Looking for news on this, I clicked over to Voice of America, to discover the website has been hacked by Islamists. Nice. The audio report plays there, but the text-page bears Islamist sloganeering about American "trickery."

Two pirates were killed (the Voice of America says) and 15 were captured. There's a simple enough way to deal with pirates, and it works every time it's tried -- hang 'em. The death penalty is especially well suited for piracy because in most cases there is no question of guilt, no facts in dispute. (The only defense I can think of is claiming one was shanghaied into service on the pirate ship, but I think that's disprovable in most cases and even when it's not, there's hardly any good reason to believe the self-serving tales of pirates.)

I do not believe for one moment that President Prissypants will push for an execution, though. Let alone the punitive raids that Drew suggests.

Here's a bit of information.

They had the 58-foot sloop built in New Zealand for what they had hoped would be an eight- or 10-year around-the-world voyage, according to their website.

And they gave it a good go. From New Zealand to Alaska their first year aboard. Then the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Tonga. Last year, China, Cambodia, Thailand. Dozens of places in between.

...

The couple dedicated part of their journeys to distributing Bibles. They called it "friendship evangelism."

I don't know if that played any role in their deaths.

I don't know if these people were armed and had a game-plan to repel pirates. I think it's worth bearing in mind that most of the world is monstrous and anyone unwilling to kill for their own lives and the lives of those they love should not venture far out into it.

posted by Ace at 03:36 PM

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