How can you call yourself a Christian and be for the death penalty?

Question

many deaths are done out of rage por impulse. This is still wrong however when we have to think about it over the course of months as in the case of a trial HOW can this not be more evil...you do not think in many if not all cases the man who killed another man (despite whether he gets away with or not) does not regret
carrying out the murder. This is why many military people and law enforcements do not like to discuss specific incidents related to that aspect of their work. Source "Thou shall not Kill" - The New American Bible

No miss--I mistrnslated nothing "Thou shall not kill" Jesus is the prince of Peace not the conditional Prince of peace

Ciniful I HOPE YOUR NOT A LAWYER

Out of all the cases of death judjments or so you call them are more or less in the Old testament or New Testament....among many rocks are a full jewels let me ask you which are worth more?

Have not you heard of the trial by fire?

Your soul will be tried by fire and so will mine..do you not know this?

Cynthia-- its not about YOU and defending yourself its about God as a Christian, denying oneself for God, denying old sinful natures and your own pride and refusal to admit you are biblically wrong.

Pride=one of seven deadly sins, obviously some of you are in this for the money.

For some people, their own underlying racism against especially minorities fuels their desire to make money locking them away and destroying their families and even more adly their lives. The GRACE of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

Diggy you are missing the big picture NONE of us are innocent but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Lamplight you speak in riddles and confusion I am not on the level to comprehend you.

Yes there should be punishments BUT some of them are 100% unbiblical as in the death penalty.

Just thinking I will send you the ISBN number of my utopia tommorow when I am done publishing it tonight hahaa just kidding I dont know I guess I would have to think about that..if its ok? No for real I beleive we need a review of some of our laws relating to criminal punishment, public assistance and taxes but please do not ask me on specifics because I never took any upper division politics classes in college or any law classes at all. I just have a B.A. in Philosophy.

Answer 1

Jesus preached turn another cheek. love your enemies also. the supporters of execution of Saddam Hussein are not strictly following the preachings of Jesus.the imperialist government of the USA is headed by George bush is anti Christ.

Answer 2

Actually, you're mistranslating the bible. The correct phrasing of the commandment was "thou shalt not MURDER", which has an entirely different meaning.

And as for your question title, are you kidding me? The bible is FULL of cases of loss of life being justified, and ordered and commanded by the big boss sitting on his cloud. Not only did he constantly pass down commands for the execution of that which he didn't believe or agree with, but carried many of them out himself. And you think the bible is against the death penalty?!?

Yikes.

Edit: You hope I'm not a lawyer? That's your well thought out response? What on earth does that have to do with anything that I posted?

I answered your question, simple as that .. with a factual response. You claim a 'christian' should be against the death penalty. I simply pointed out to you, as many others did, that it's a ridiculous and empty standpoint, since the bible is pro-death consistently all the way through. If anyone should be FOR the death penalty, it should be a christian. Their religious history is FULL of it. More people have died at the hands of christianity than for any other cause throughout history. This is verifiable fact, not conjecture.

Sorry you don't like it, but insulting me doesn't make it any less true. It just makes the point stronger and you look like an insolent child on top of it.

Answer 3

I believe that nation states have the right to have a death penalty. Any citizen of any country must adhere to the rules of the country wherein they live. If killing someone warrants the death penalty and if they kill someone and are found guilty, then I believe they should be put to death. I am also a Christian so I hope that this individual will sincerely make his (or her) peace with God before they are put to death. However, a price must be paid to society when a crime is committed. Just my thoughts....

Answer 4

Right-wing Christian fundamentalism is as much a political movement as it is a religious one, and it's become a hybrid of religious theology and political philosophy. And in that process, many...many Christian beliefs have been sacrificed for political reasons, to the point where it's probably innapropriate to call that brand of Christian fundamentalism, "Christian" at all.

Edit:

Snox, the death penalty cannot be supported by the New Testament. That's an Old Testament approach to justice, and it was imperfect. Christ changed that approach. It's no longer "a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye".

Answer 5

My answer to a similar question a couple of days ago:
You are right that it is up to God to take the life of a murderer. And He has delegated that responsibility to us: "Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death: but he shall surely be put to death." ... "So you shall not pollute the land in which you are: for blood pollutes the land and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it." Numbers 35:31 and 35:33. You've got the legal delegation, now deal with who gets capital punishment. Even if your formulation is that only mass murderers get the death penalty, Sadam fit that bill. A civilized society stays that way when murderers are removed from it.

Answer 6

Wow. You've never read the rest of the Old Testament, I take it. The bible is replete with requirements from God to kill the sinful and the unbelievers. Read Deuteronomy for starters.

And I would expect the one who carries out the death penalty to feel bad, he should. It's not a happy thing to do. But that doesn't mean it's not necessary. Just like the people who killed, or died, for your freedom. Just like the cops who shoot a homocidal fugitive. The killing is not generally desireable, but honorable men will do it for honorable causes.

So dispute the DP if you will, but do not use the bible as justification without reading all of it. It supports it far stronger than it disputes it. And do not use the fact that the task is unpleasant as a moral guide either, as soldiers or cops who have killed for your freedom or safety will tell you that they did what needed to be done, despite their human urge not to. And they're hero's for it, not murderers.

Answer 7

What is your alternative life imprisionment? We all know how successful that is and the cost to society is enormous...Maybe you propose no penalties, people going through life doing what they want and when, well that's anarchy. Society needs laws and consequences unfortunately there are those in our society who have no consconious at all and kill with out blinking an eye. Should we let them continue without consequences until its their time to die and they stand before God? I think not, in general around the world we have people who are sentenced to life in prision, life being 15-20 some get out and start over again maybe thats OK by you it certainly isnt by me. We dont have the death penality in my country and there are no real consequences in our society for people who commit haneous crimes and I dispare of the future because we get less and less safe as the years go by, everyone is entitled to their own opinion as to whether it's a deterant or not, justice or injustice but you can only make that decision yourself based on your experiences and if violent crime hasnt touched you or your family personally think yourself lucky because until it does you can never truly appreciate what pain and suffering another person has gone through and continues to go through knowing that the consequences for a loved one's pain, suffering or death may be reduced down to a few years of incarceration where you get internet access, education and the ability to learn how to continue on your life of crime more cunningly.

Answer 8

Had this very discussion with a christian guy today - seems the Bible and common sense both call for killing people who want to kill you - whether that's a crack monster or a poor nation or a cult or whoever. If people remove themselves beyond the reach of reason and normal human compassion and undertake aggressive, murderous actions against others, then the others must kill them in self defense. Would you be a better father and husband to let them come into your home and rape and kill your daughter? IN the name of goodness? No, that's silly - sometimes we have to defend AND OFFEND against the monsters among us.

Answer 9

Well now look at it this way. When the Bible says thou shall not kill it means thou shall not kill an innocent. So when you look at a death row inmate that has either raped or murdered or both. They are not innocent they have done a very serious crime.

Answer 10

So you don't believe in the military either? What would you say to the men and women in the Armed Forces. You can be a Christian and be for the death penalty. It is not something to be taken lightly, but......there are times and circumstances that require it. I think that God is mindful, He is aware of everything...He knows what's in the heart of all men. He will be a fair Judge. I also believe in Christ and His part in everything also.

Answer 11

Police and military don;t commit murder they defend our country and protect us. God also said to moses when he was taking the jews to isreal out of egypt to not spare men women and children, moses didn't obey and they're still fighting for their land today. How do you think the loved ones of the victim feel? no one has the right to take your life in everyday life and they should be executed quickly. There wouldn't be so many crimes if we would not let people stay on death row for years.