The 34 minute execution of a Florida criminal has the death penalty harpies up in arms again.  Witness this opinion from the Huffington Post this morning:
 
"Only barbaric human beings would believe that a murder can be justified with another killing all because it's in the name of the law. Killing is killing whether it's done by a random person in the street or an executioner in prison. Murder in the name of the law, seems like hypocrisy to me."

Post-modern, secular America has forgotten that government is a God-given institution.  The primary role of government is to protect the citizenry.  A government that is executing its responsibilities correctly will keep order by administering justice.  Our government is elected by the people. These officials set the laws for us. They are our laws, collectively as a society. Nothing barbaric about that at all. 

Thus police, executioners, soldiers acting under that authority are in a completely different category than criminals such as this guy in Florida.  They are doing the job of protecting us from our enemies--like this guy in Florida. 

This man, however,  took the law into his own hands.  He made a judgement about his victim, determined that he was worthy of death, then executed him.  This was all done completely outside the justice system--one man determining by his own personal standards whether another person lives or dies. 

In response, the government (us) thoroughly examined the evidence of his actions in the court system (with multiple appeals I'm sure).  His sentence was rendered under the law.  The crime here is not that he seems to have suffered for 34 minutes, but that it took years and millions of dollars of resources to bring him to final justice.