How is it a person can claim they are pro-life, yet support the death penalty?

Question

Or the other way around.

Murder is murder, isn't it? Do certain people deserve to die more than others? I thought we were supposed to "turn the other cheek."

Answer 1

Ah - what you are facing is a unique human trait called logical inconsistency. We all suffer from it. Try to pick one philosophy for many arguments and given enough time, you'll find there is a scenario where you'll violate that philosophy.

Yea it's a pain and seems uber-dumb, but welcome to humanity - we reserve the right to change our minds or fail to admit, some topics are vastly more complicated than coloring them as "this way or that way".

Unborn babies don't kill - but murderers do.

So one is about protecting life and the other is about retribution or reconcilliation.

Ain't perfect, but you can support one and not the other...

Answer 2

First off, "turn the other cheek" is out of context. The turn the other cheek has to do with equality. Back then, someone that was "higher up" would back hand a lower person to smack them. If you "turned the other cheek" the person would then be forced to use the palm of the hand to slap, which would mean that the person was smacking an equal. This can be evidenced by the verses before and after (ex. if a soldier asked you to carry his backpack, you were required to carry it a certain distance, anything beyond that would be a courtesy that you are providing to an equal).

On to the murder, it would seem that killing a murderer that we are murdering as well but this person has forfeited their right to live. By your speaking "turn the other cheek" it sounds like you are saying, "John Smith just killed Jane Doe. We shouldn't punish him for that. We will just give let him kill Jane's sister." Murderers are a bane on society and by definition do not "play well with others." Oh sure, we could put them in prison for life, but we are already overrun by prisons and are having a hard time supporting them. So, by putting someone in prison, we are providing for them after they have down something that deserves punishment. The only viable punishment for someone who has killed another is to end their life.

Since capitol punishment is the end result of someone committing murder (granted not this way in all states, but theoritically if this were the case) and all people know this then when someone commits murder they know full well that they will be put to death, so you could say that the person is committing suicide as well as murder since the person is signing their own death warrent.

Did you know that in the Old Testament if someone committed murder they were to be put to death, but if the person were to hit a pregnant woman in the stomach and cause her to lose the child that it would not be considered murder. The punishment for the child being lost would be the same as if the person had stolen property. So, by the Bible, it would seem that abortion is not murder.

Answer 3

Great question! How about "how is it a person can claim they are pro-life, and then blow up clinics and murder doctors?" Clearly, the people who claim to be "pro-life" are being disingenuous. They are actually pro-control of other people's life. They oppose family planning and reproductive education because they believe that women should not be allowed to chart their own futures. They would prefer that innocent children be born into poverty and squalor, perhaps homeless and unwanted, to be neglected and abused and possibly end up on death row, than let someone make a decision that might conflict with a personal bias they have. They would rather plunge a woman and her family into hardship by making her lose her job so she could be "punished" for her "sins" by making her stay "home where she belongs" with her unplanned baby. See, it's all about punishment. If you do something that's against some arbitrary moral code, you must be punished. That's where the death penalty fits into the pro-life movement.

Answer 4

My reply to this statement:

"Capital punishment is that punishment given to a person who has been lawfully arrested, tried, and convicted of certain offenses in accordance with the rules of God-ordained civil government. Capital punishment is the end result of adjudication, it is not murder."

***
Capital punishment is murder when innocent people are falsly convicted. Men get exonerated everyday; the lucky ones that are still alive. The justice system is flawed. If you're poor you can forget about it.

And you are right, "proLIFErs" are so hypocritical when it comes to the death penalty and everything else.

Answer 5

Yes, people can claim they are pro-life, and support the death penalty. It all boils down to the degree of pro-life they believe.

Examples: People claim to be vegetarians, but use/consume eggs, milk, cheese, leather, lard, oils, furs, silk, and other goods that are made from other living animals.

People claim to be pro-life, yet eat meat, wear leather shoes/jackets/belts ... silk shirts ... more.

Turn the other cheek is in the bible, but an eye for an eye is too.

Answer 6

Abortion is the taking of innocent life.

Capital punishment is that punishment given to a person who has been lawfully arrested, tried, and convicted of certain offenses in accordance with the rules of God-ordained civil government. Capital punishment is the end result of adjudication, it is not murder.

Individuals are to turn the other cheek (doesn't mean they're doormats). But, for people to live peacably in society, God ordained human government to enforce laws enacted according to biblical principles for the punishment of evil-doers.

Dad

Answer 7

abortion is never justified, unless it's an indirect abortion. [for example, if the mother has cancer, has to get chemo, and the baby dies because of it.] you're right, murder is murder.
but there are occasional exceptions for the death penalty. for example, a few months ago they executed this man who had been on death row for many years. he was REALLY old, but in the past few years, he had been somehow getting his cronies to kill other people for him. his being alive was threatening the lives of other people. therefore, it was justified to kill him.
but people who are no threat to the public, or people that can be contained so that they are not a threat, should not be executed. we shouldn't play God and just kill people we're mad at.

Answer 8

The people who are up for the death penalty deserve to die, and innocent babies don't♥

Answer 9

An unborn baby is innocent. A murderer is guilty.

Answer 10

the death penalty is killing someone who is guilty and abortion is killing someone who is innocent. the death penalty is "justified". a criminal doesnt deserve it more that a fetus. criminals do deserve it and fetuses dont. its black and white.