A few years ago I got into a small argument with a Spanish teacher in the middle of class. The disagreement stemmed from the statement "I love my dog, but if I was put in the position of having to save him or a person, I would save the person." (The scenario being a human and an animal both somehow hanging from a cliff) I felt this was a perfectly reasonable statement. The teacher disagreed. She rebutted with "What if that person was a pedophile or a murderer?" Now I thought that was kind of an extreme response, but fair enough. Challenging me to an extreme I stated that I felt no right to end another human life because that would make me no better than a murderer. The teacher moved on with the class after that to talk about nachos or some shit leaving me to feel that I had won a hollow victory. So Escapists, who do you think was right in this?
TL;DR:
Am I wrong to think that a human life is something I don't have a right to end? Or was my teacher right in thinking that letting someone die is justifiable?
EDIT: I think I should clarify that I am not a religious man. I believe that everyone only gets one life. I also believe that there are more appropriate punishments than death for violent criminals.