Why do most of western people support capital punishment though they are christians?

Question

Jesus said love your enemies and not to seek revenge then how come conservative christians support execution of criminals except for defence? Aren't they following the mosaic law of an eye for an eye?

Answer 1

Arrogance, self-righteous hypocracy, etc.

Answer 2

Good point, Eye for an eye is an old testament teacher but then Jesus came along and said about loving your enemies. So that new terstament teaching overtakes the old one. I would be careful about saying conservative christians wanting the death penalty because if conservative christians made those laws then there would be no legal homosexuality etc either.

Answer 3

Many people, including Christians, support the death penalty becuase they are concerned about of killers being released into their communities, because they do not know about the alternatives and, in general, do not yet know the facts about the death penalty system, at least as practiced in the United States. Here are some facts about it, verifiable and sourced:

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.)

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: 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: 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 4

Hypocrisy, this is the only answer. They don't mind massacring thousand of people in Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan and Iraq. They have all forgotten the true teachings of Jesus Christ of loving the neighbour and not to seek revenge. Their (namely U.S.A. &U.K.) behavior is totally contradictory to the teachings of their religion. Lie and deceit is their way of life. They are known to condemn countries without giving them a fair chance to defend themselves, their only criteria is material gain.
Islam at the least is not a religion of hypocrites. Yes the holy Quran does say an eye for an eye and does not mince words as far as capital punishment is concerned. But it also speaks of love and compation not only toward your neighbour but towards the whole humanity.
Islamic law probably is the reason that the crime rate in the countries following Islamic law is below one percent. And every body knows the crime rate in the so called liberal western countries specially the U.S.A.

Answer 5

Jesus never condemmed capital punishment.And by the way,the Old Testament IS part of the Christian Bible,so we have justification for following the Mosaic law.As Jesus said,''I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets,but to fulfill them''.

'Nuff said.

Answer 6

Most people who call themselves Christians are not really Christians, but Pagans who call themselves Christians because it is convenient for them to do so, either from an employment standpoint or for social reasons. It is all about confused think and priorities. i am a prison pastor and I know what Jesus can do for a man or woman behind bars. My senior prison pastor spent three years on death row before being granted clemency. He is well respected around the world for his work in prisons.

Answer 7

Jesus didn't come to change the law but to fulfill it.(Matt. 5:17) the commands of God, are still in effect, but we are no longer to required to make a living sacrifice (sheep, bulls, etc..) for our sins, as He was the ultimate sacrifice. We are still to obey Gods laws.Only the laws of sacrifice have been fulfilled. the basic Ten and a bunch more are still required. I believe Jesus was talking about taking the law into your own hands and letting the feelings of hate and revenge over take you and cause you to sin.

Answer 8

Most western people don't support capital punishment. The US is the only Western Country that I know of that still practices it.

Don't you mean Middle eastern countries where capital punishment is practiced for religious purposes?

Answer 9

Some do and some don't. If a murderer doesn't kill anyone I know then how could it be revenge? It would be justice instead. If the murderer chops up a person until they die, then we would have to do the same thing to him for it to be "An eye for an eye." Instead, the authorities try and do it as painless as possible.

Answer 10

Support for the death penalty varies widely. Both in abolitionist and retentionist democracies, the government's stance often has wide public support and receives little attention by politicians or the media. In some abolitionist countries, the majority of the public supports or has supported the death penalty. Abolition was often adopted due to political change, such as when countries shifted from authoritarianism to democracy, or when it became an entry condition for the European Union. The United States is a notable exception: some states have had bans on capital punishment for decades (the earliest is Michigan, where it was abolished in 1846), while others actively use it today. The death penalty there remains a contentious issue which is hotly debated. Elsewhere, however, it is rare for the death penalty to be abolished due to an active public discussion of its merits.
Public execution in Iran
Public execution in Iran

In abolitionist countries, debate is sometimes revived by particularly brutal murders as a knee-jerk reaction, though few countries have brought it back after abolition. However a spike in serious, violent crimes, such as murders or terrorist attacks, have prompted some countries (such as Sri Lanka and Jamaica) to effectively end the moratorium on the death penalty. In retentionist countries, the debate is sometimes revived when miscarriage of justice occurs, though this tends to cause legislative efforts to improve the judicial process rather than to abolish the death penalty.

A Gallup International poll from 2000 found that "Worldwide support was expressed in favour of the death penalty, with just more than half (52%) indicating that they were in favour of this form of punishment." A break down of the numbers of support versus opposition: Worldwide 52%/39%, North America 66%/27%, Asia 63%/21%, Central and Eastern Europe 60%/29%, Africa 54%/43%, Latin America 37%/55%, Western Europe 34%/60%.[citation needed]

In the U.S., surveys have long shown a majority in favor of capital punishment. An ABC News survey in July 2006 found 65 percent in favor of capital punishment, consistent with other polling since 2000.[4] About half the American public says the death penalty isn't imposed frequently enough and 60 percent believe it is applied fairly, according to a Gallup poll in May 2006.[1] Yet surveys also show the public is more divided when asked to choose between the death penalty and life without parole, or when dealing with juvenile offenders.[2][3] Roughly six in 10 tell Gallup they don't believe capital punishment deters murder and majorities believe at least one innocent person has been executed in the past five years.[4] [5]

A recent poll on Aljazeera's website found that 52.7% were in favour of the death penalty being banned, 39.3% against it being banned and 8% undecided.

The death penalty has been totally abolished in almost all European countries (47 out of 50). A moratorium on the death penalty is a condition of membership in the Council of Europe and abolition is considered a central value to the European Union. Only in Belarus and Kazakhstan (a little part of Kazakhstan is part of Europe) is it still practised - this being one reason for which they have been refused membership into the Council of Europe.

So how do you say most Western people support the death penalty?


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Executions since 1976, by jurisdiction
Jurisdiction Executions
since 1976
(as of February 28, 2007)[3] Inmates on Death Row
(as of April 1, 2006)[4]
Texas 385 404
Virginia 98 22
Oklahoma 84 93
Missouri 66 52
Florida 64 392
North Carolina 43 188
Georgia 39 107
South Carolina 36 71
Alabama 35 191
Arkansas 27 38
Louisiana 27 88
Ohio 24 195
Arizona 22 126
Indiana 17 24
Delaware 14 17
California 13 652
Illinois 12 9
Nevada 12 81
Mississippi 8 67
Utah 6 9
Maryland 5 8
Washington 4 9
Nebraska 3 10
Pennsylvania 3 232
U.S. Federal Government 3 41
Montana 3 4
Kentucky 2 37
Oregon 2 33
Tennessee 2 108
Colorado 1 2
Connecticut 1 8
Idaho 1 20
New Mexico 1 2
Wyoming 1 2
Kansas 0 8
New Hampshire 0 0
New Jersey 0 13
New York
(On June 24, 2004, the death penalty statute of New York was declared unconstitutional) 0 1
South Dakota 0 4
U.S. Military 0 9
United States
total 1,064 3,370*
no current death penalty statute: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

* Some inmates are on death row in more than one state, so the total may be lower than sum of state numbers.
↑ - Source for executions
↑ - Source for death row

Capital punishment (also known as "the Death Penalty") in the United States is officially sanctioned by 38 of the 50 states, as well as by the federal government and the military. The overwhelming majority of executions are performed by the states; the federal government maintains the legal power to use capital punishment but does so relatively infrequently. Each state practicing capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods and crimes which qualify; no state may execute someone for a crime committed before the age of 18. The state of Texas has performed more executions than any other state.

Capital punishment is a highly charged issue with many groups and prominent individuals participating in the debate. Arguments for and against it are based on moral, practical, religious, and emotional grounds. Advocates of the death penalty argue that it deters crime, improves the community by making sure that convicted criminals do not find their way out onto the streets to offend again, and is cheaper than keeping convicted criminals in high security prison for the rest of their natural lives. Opponents of the death penalty claim that "capital punishment cheapens human life and puts government on the same low moral level as criminals who have taken life."[1]

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 there have been 1064 executions in the United States (as of February 28, 2007).[2] There were 53 executions in 2006.[3]

67% of capital convictions are eventually overturned, mainly on procedural grounds of incompetent legal counsel, police or prosecutors who suppressed evidence and judges who gave jurors the wrong instructions.[4][5] Seven percent of those whose sentences were overturned between 1973 and 1995 have been acquitted. Ten percent were retried and re-sentenced to death.[5]

Answer 11

It's long been abolished throughout almost every OECD country except the USA.

No man has the right to decide to take another's life.

This is recognised as a fundamental human right throughout most of the developed world.