shouldn't Christians be against the death penalty?

Question

I mean they say life is sacred when they talk about abortion, but not when they talk about the death penalty. Does that mean we get to choose which life is sacred and we get to kill the rest?

just trying to open a few eyes... I am not against Christianity, just in favor of love

Answer 1

I'm pro-life and walk each year in the pro-life march in DC.

All the Christians there, walking to end abortion are also against the death penalty. The true pro-life movement is against abortion, the death penalty and euthanasia. We believe life is from conception to natural death.

Answer 2

Facts and common sense should be applied on this issue. I think that many people, Christians and others, do not yet know the facts about the death penalty system. Here are a few, all verifiable and sourced.

Re: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence, many having 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 the real criminal is still out there and will have successfully avoided being charged.

Re: DNA
DNA is available in less than 10% of murder cases. It’s not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.

Re: Deterrence
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 about the consequences or even that they will be caught (if they think at all.) At least one person who answered your question is mistaken about this.

Re: cost
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: Alternatives
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: 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 sloganeering.

Answer 3

You would think Christians would be against it, but every religion has a way of doing anything it wants and saying it's OK somehow. God says to kill those who do not follow, basically, in every religion.
I do not care for the death penalty, but I would rather see religion go away instead. I could see being for the death penalty if it were used to kill those who push religion on me.

Answer 4

God isn't, neither should we be. Death is a deterrent to the average sane individual who for any reason would contemplate taking another's life. Because we have short circuited this route with man made reservations about taking a life, we have raised a generation of mad dog killers who have no respect for life and contempt at best. Indeed , why should they be afraid to snuff out an innocent precious human life, when they know all that will happen is they will be well fed, and taken care of for the rest of their life(if that long).

Answer 5

Absolutely not.

God has set up governments and works through the government to execute justice and we are to respect the powers and authorities God has placed above us. If we do evil the government has the God given right to take life away.

Romans 13:3-4 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

Answer 6

Strangely enough all the atheists I know are against it yet many Christians, particularly in the US are for it, I thought only god had the right to take life?

Answer 7

No, because God really does say to kill people who don't follow his commandments. Leviticus is full of laws the faithful must follow. The bible supports executing gays, people who work on Sunday and people who deny the holy spirit. The inquisition is a perfect expression of biblical doctrine.

Answer 8

when the Christians controlled my country during colonial times they were never shy of using death penalty on our peoples, never shy at all

Answer 9

i thought the bible says , an eye for an eye, translated to, kill the killers

Answer 10

Of course they should be. But they have twisted their own scripture to suit themselves. They want to be able to kill those they think 'deserve' to die.