It strikes me as very odd that the conservative platform, which is made up of a lot of religious people, strongly supports the death penalty. Didn't your god say "thou shalt not kill?" Doesn't that mean "Thou shalt not even kill a murderer?"
2007-05-15 03:56:37 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
:) I knew they would cut it fine and do the murder/kill switchoff.
For instance, for Andrea Yates, who didn't murder her kids, but kill them, to save them from Satan. That one is justified?
2007-05-15 04:01:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
"Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" scripture found in the Bible would justify the death penalty, yet that scripture was wrote in Exodus, which is Old Testament. God was quite wrathful in Old Testament which is why the arrival of Jesus Christ in the New Testament prompted a vengeful God to be more forgiving. So. I'm not quite sure. The Bible preaches equal punishment for the crime, but it also preaches forgiveness. On the other hand, The Ten commandments are also Old testament, So I guess , it's neither right nor wrong to be for the death penalty. I am a Christian and unfotunatley given the society we live in, i am FOR the death penalty. yet I worry about all the innocent people who have been put to death in the process.
2007-05-15 04:29:02 · answer #2 · answered by candyred1999 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Firstly, the commandment "Thou shallt not kill" is in the same biblical book of Exodus, that set out specific punishments, including execution, for certain crimes, including bestiality, and murder. Any reader of average intelligence can see that it is murder (rather than simply "kill") that the issue is about. The same book from which you quote goes further than mere allowing executions for such crimes. It orders them! What the state is obliged to do, is a very different matter from what individuals are obliged not to do. No contradiction. For example, I'm sure we all believe it is wrong for an individual to start levying income tax on his "neighbour"! But it is right for the state to do it.(unless you live in an oil producing country or tax haven) I'm also not a huge fan of the death penalty, but keep your arguments rational, please. That include statistics to "prove" the point. The country that I live in, South Africa, has the highest murder rate in the world, and we do not have the death penalty. We used to have the death penalty until 14 years ago. At that time, South Africa was not even on the UN's list of countries with high murder rates. Murders grew exponentially since almost the very day the death penalty was discarded. It has resulted in people (like myself) to strongly reconsider their opposition to it. I know you all life in the US, but the point is that there is at least some deterrent in the death penalty. Murders in countries such is the United Arab Emirates are almost unheard of. The death penalty there is administered swiftly, and the legal tricks of the West don't exist there. Barbaric? Well, oddly enough, the death penalty is almost never administered, because the deterrent is so effective, that there are no murders. If such is the state of affairs, and if we abbhor people being put to death (and I certainly do!) then we must decide whether it is right not do something to discourage the termination of 50,000 innocent lives a year, as is the case here. From our experience, in this country, hanging less than one convicted criminal every two years, has saved tens of thousands of innocent lives per year. Personally, I can't live with myself, if I choose the 1 life (of a person who him/herself has no respect for human life) over the lives of 50,000 young fathers, mothers, and little children. Okay, I know the figure is not that high in the US. At what point does that change? I say if one innocent life can be saved, if one mother doesn't have to explain to her two year old that law abiding daddy is not coming home today, then the death penalty is justified.
2016-05-18 21:07:53 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The commandment reads "Thou shalt not murder."
Killing is a different matter. Killing is not the same as a wanton murder.
Killing another person can be justified in (1) self defense, (2) in a just war - which must meet very strict conditions, and (3) when all other means have failed - in the execution of dangerous criminals in order to protect innocent life and provide a deterrant.
Viva Christo Rey!
2007-05-15 04:00:12 · answer #4 · answered by Veritas 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes and no. The original Hebrew text of the 10 commandments denounces murder, not justified killing. In any case, all religious people perform intense mental gymnastics to do whatever they feel is necessary while still believing that they are maintaining the spirit and word of their religious text. One could argue that since man is made in God's image, and since God kills frequently and indiscriminately, then so should we. God also commands his people to kill heretics in Deuteronomy. It doesn't really matter though. It's all nonsense.
If you're looking for the most extreme example of nonsense, contradiction, and incoherency, look to the Qur'an. It's even more poorly written and organized than the Bible, and that's saying a whole lot.
2007-05-15 04:07:06 · answer #5 · answered by godofsparta 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wish I could give you an answer but I am uncertain at this point what I believe. I think those that have committed murder and other serious/violent crimes should have the death penalty as an viable punishment. However, having said this I am unsure whether God would accept my position on this subject. I am sorry I could not give you a definitive answer but I promise you I contemplate the death penalty often trying to understand justice and what God would have me do.
2007-05-15 04:04:52 · answer #6 · answered by Got Questions? I've Got Answ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The original Hebrew texts state "Thou shalt not murder" not "Thou shalt not kill". During the translation into Greek, and then into English, the term was mistranslated resulting in the varriations apparent today.
2007-05-15 04:22:21 · answer #7 · answered by Gordon B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The commandment, Thou shalt not kill, is the prohibition of murdering innocent people and on the other side, it is the commandment to respect life.
What confuses me is the liberal agenda which allows convicted murderers to live, while condemning innocent unborn babies to die.
2007-05-15 04:04:27 · answer #8 · answered by Lacey G 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes absolutely. They pick and chose. Jesus emended the old "eye for and eye" statement. Nevertheless that is the verse they invoke when they need it and it is convent. It is incredible, just how many times can they be hypocritical and still sleep at night. Me I am not a christian so I don't have to worry about anything but my own conscience. If there is a god they will have a lot of explaining to do.
2007-05-15 04:03:16 · answer #9 · answered by Fillup 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hebrew rendering is "Thou shall not murder"...not kill.
Deut..19:11 But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:
19:12 Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
2007-05-15 04:00:43 · answer #10 · answered by Royal Racer Hell=Grave © 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
most christians i've met don't actually support the death penalty... strange you haven't mentioned this.
i actually think christians are the most vocal group AGAINST the death penalty.
...and i believe in the penalty.
2007-05-15 04:05:14 · answer #11 · answered by Abdul 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋