death penalty?

Question

is it right or wrong? what does the Bible have to say?

Answer 1

Some of the answers you have received are wrong or just confused about the facts. Here are some verifiable and sourced facts.

Re: Alternatives (some answerers seem unaware of this)
48 states have life without parole on the books. It means what it says, is swift and sure and is rarely appealed. Being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day, forever, is certainly no picnic. Life without parole incapacitates a killer (keeps him from re-offending) and costs considerably less than the death penalty.

Re: Speed and the possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. Many had already served over 2 decades on death row. If we speed up the process we are bound to execute an innocent person. Once someone is executed the case is closed. If we execute an innocent person we are not likely to find that out and, also, the real criminal is still out there.

Re: DNA
DNA is available in no more than 10% of murder cases. It is not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.

Re: Appeals
Our appeals system is designed to make sure that the trial was in accord with constitutional standards, not to second guess whether the defendant was actually innocent. It is very difficult to get evidence of innocence introduced before an appeals court.

Re: Deterrence (Some answers are wrong)
The death penalty isn’t a deterrent. Murder rates are actually higher in states with the death penalty than in states without it. Moreover, people who kill or commit other serious crimes do not think they will be caught (if they think at all.)

Re: cost (Many people do not know this)
The death penalty costs far more than life in prison. The huge extra costs start to mount up even before the trial. There are more cost effective ways to prevent and control crime.

Re: Who gets the death penalty
The death penalty isn’t reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but rather for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was sentenced to death, let alone executed??

Re: Victims families
The death penalty is very hard on victims’ families. They must relive their ordeal in the courts and the media. Life without parole is sure, swift and rarely appealed. Some victims families who support the death penalty in principal prefer life without parole because of how the death penalty affects families like theirs.

Opposing the death penalty doesn’t mean you condone brutal crimes or excuse people who commit them. According to a Gallup Poll, in 2006, 47% of all Americans prefer capital punishment while 48% prefer life without parole. Americans are learning the facts and making up their minds using common sense, not revenge or an eye for an eye mentality.

Answer 2

Crimes that deserved the death [penalty] in the Old Testament

According to Numb 35:31 there are criminals which "deserves to die". In the Old Testament the following crimes deserved the death penalty:

1. Murder (Gen 9:6, Ex 21:12, Numb 35:16-21).

2. Abuse of father or mother (Ex 21:15).

3. Speaking a curse over parents (Ex 21:17).

4. Blasphemy against God (Lev 24:14-16,23).

5. Breaking the Sabbath (Ex 31:14, Numb 15:32-36).

6. Practicing magic (Ex 22:18).

7. Fortune telling and practicing sorcery (Lev 20:27).

8. Religious people who mislead others to fall away (Deut 13:1-5, 18:20).

9. Adultery and fornication (Lev 20:10-12, Deut 22:22).

10. If a woman has intercourse before marriage (Deut 22:20-21).

11. If two people have intercourse when one of them is engaged. (Deut 22:23-24).

12. The daughter of a priest practicing prostitution (Lev 21:9).

13. Rape of someone who is engaged (Deut 22:25).

14. Having intercourse with animals (Ex 22:19).

15. Worshipping idols (Ex 22:20, Lev 20:1-5, Deut 17:2-7).

16. Incest (Lev 20:11-12, 14, 19-21).

17. Homosexuality (Lev 20:13).

18. Kidnapping (Ex 21:16).

19. To bear false testimony at a trial (Deut 19:16, 19).

20. Contempt of court (Deut 17:8-13).

The manner of execution in the Old Testament could be stoning, burning, using a sword, spear or arrow (Lev 20:27, 21:9, Ex 19:13, 32:27, Numb 25:7-8).

Answer 3

The only problem i have with the death penalty is who deserves death and who doesn't. I don't think we have the right to say that this person deserves it because they killed one more person than the other guy.

I don't think that people who get the death penalty are really scared of death either so i really don't think it accomplishes anything.

Answer 4

Well it is a touchy situation. I think that a lot of the people that they let free should be put and keep in mental institutions. However, there are several people who rape, commit murder or do things to children that I think should be put to death. They bible says a lot of things. It depends upon which part you believe divine. Some go with the old testaments "eye for and eye" and others are more forgiving. In my opinion it all depends on the situation.

Answer 5

Use the death penalty faster and more often
My Bible doesn't talk
Do you hear voices from yours?

Answer 6

I don't have a clear opininon about death penalty.
What I can say is:
Do we want to be sure to defend good people from bad people in our society? Yes.
Can our society kill few for the goodness of many?
I would say only in extreme cases.
If Hitler could have been killed when it was a child for eample...
or should have we tried to educate him?
I don't have an answer.
However I would say that good people in the society should be protected from criminals or people that are dangerous.

Answer 7

I think the death penalty is wrong. Most Christians beleve that killing is wrong, no matter what reason.

HOWEVER, since we have to choose between the death penalty and letting criminals out on Parole in 10 years, I say

FRY 'EM!!!!

Answer 8

it is a necessary evil. there must be a deterrent to capital crimes like murder. sometimes life imprisonment is not enough of one, plus the taxpayers shouldnt have to pay to house and feed a convicted scumbag murderer for 50 or so years. the bible says eye for an eye in the old testament, but jesus was probably against it.

Answer 9

It is state-sanctioned murder. No different from the thug who kills during a drive-by.

Who cares what the Bible says.......

Answer 10

i think of all new child molesters could desire to be positioned to sleep! i'm conscious that could desire to get rid of a huge area of the human race, yet think of roughly it, each physique left could be so scared they probably does no longer do it. As for each individual else, in the event that they committed the crime, are stumbled on in charge and are frightened of dying then i think of they could desire to be positioned to sleep. enable them to experience the phobia of dying basically like their victims. in the event that they're waiting to die then i think of we could desire to constantly shop them alive in penal complex. And as quickly as I say penal complex, I mean one meal an afternoon, no t.v., no air con, no gyms (in hassle-free terms to cause them to bigger! that's stupid), no privileges in any respect. Prisoners now and back say, "they cope with us like animals", nicely i think of in the event that they did no longer act like animals they does no longer be in there interior the 1st place. i think of they could desire to artwork yet in hassle-free terms to pay for his or her clothing, nutrients, facility costs, and pay a small element ordinary to the victims or their families. That way ordinary they're reminded of why they're in there! I do think of the charge could desire to flow to a financial employer account the place the victims are no longer reminded daily of the journey. That way they could cope with it on their very own while they're waiting. i actually do agree the only time they could desire to apply the dying penalty is while they know for specific they committed the crime. As for criminals who rather did no longer bodily harm everybody i think of they could desire to place them in a reformatory far off from the problematical-middle criminals, yet I nevertheless think of they could desire to artwork for each little thing.