Behind the somewhat flip title and reference to the (somewhat depraved, but rather funny) Chopping Block cartoon lies a more serious matter: our tendency to dehumanize our enemies. This is a natural, but regrettable tendency; trying to think of someone that has hurt you as less than completely evil often makes things hurt more. It is, however, an error; people are not completely evil, and by forgetting that even our monsters are still human leads down the slippery slope of abandoning compassion completely.

I spent more time thinking about this after reading a story both uplifting and tragic, the memories of a man who was saved from serious injury and possibly death by a serial killer, and who's mother was ultimately responsible for his capture. In the comments, a woman describes her own similar emotional conflict in remembering and judging a sociopath who saved her life.

This conflict is a good thing. Zealots flee from it, but the sane must embrace it — never letting it prevent them from doing what needs to be done, perhaps, when there is no time left to avert another tragedy, but never forgotten, and never denied. When we give in to our rage, our pain, and our hatred, to the point of denying the humanity and fundamental rights of others, opponents or monsters, guilty or merely suspect, we slip ever closer to becoming monsters ourselves.

Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein. — Nietzsche