in your religious view...?

Question

is the death penalty morally right or is it wrong?

The Bible says an eye for an eye BUT the Bible also says though shalt not kill


what is your take on it?

Answer 1

The death penalty is the logical extension of the belief that the correct response to an intolerable act is to commit another intolerable act. It's called 'retribution' (re-tribute; 'pay back').

What people need when they are harmed unjustly by another is justice. What they ask for is retribution.

The reason is that, in this world, there can be no true justice. True justice would be to take away the harm -- completely. That would involve restoring the injured party to wholeness, and removing the memory of pain or loss.

Since we as humans cannot do that, there cannot be true justice. Instead, in response to added misery brought into the world by a criminal, we bring more misery into the world by inflicting it on the criminal.

It is useful for society to remove from its midst those who if left to roam free would harm others. Imprisonment is the accepted method for doing this. Further harm to the criminal is of no benefit to anyone.

For what do those in whose name the retribution is exacted get? Nothing of value. The dead are not made alive. The injured are not made whole, the goods once lost are never restored in full. And instead of their 'karma,' if you will, being restored in balance, they are now deeper into moral self-abuse, for having caused pain to another.

The most beneficial thing the agrieved can do for him or herself is to search dilligently within his or her heart to find forgiveness. This is what the Bible says Jesus the Christ said to do, and I would agree whether I were a Christian or not.

And this is true whether or not the person who has harmed you shows penitence. The reason is that forgiveness is not to benefit the criminal, it is to benefit yourself. You cannot be spiritually at peace as long as you carry the weight of resentment and anger in your heart.

The Christian take on this is that you cannot enter the kingdom with that kind of emotion in your heart.

The plain-spoken 'What your mother always told you' take is, "Two wrongs don't make a right."

Answer 2

Other people have answered you with Biblical references. I think that any system designed by humans is bound to have flaws and that as humans we make mistakes.

Here are answers to questions about the practical aspects of the death penalty system, with sources listed below. You can decide whether, given these facts, the death penalty is morally justified.

What about the risk of executing innocent people?
124 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence.

Doesn't DNA keep new cases like these from happening?
DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides. It is not a guarantee against the execution of innocent people.

Doesn't the death penalty prevent others from committing murder?
No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. To be a deterrent a punishment must be sure and swift. The death penalty is neither. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in states that do not.

So, what are the alternatives?
Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. It is sure and swift and rarely appealed. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

But isn't the death penalty cheaper than keeping criminals in prison?
The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, mostly because of the legal process. Anytime the death penalty is a possible sentence, extra costs start to mount up even before a trial, continuing through the uniquely complicated trial (actually 2 separate stages, mandated by the Supreme Court) in death penalty cases, and subsequent appeals.

What about the very worst crimes?
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??

Doesn't the death penalty help families of murder victims?
Not necessarily. Murder victim family members across the country argue that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

So, why don't we speed up the process?
Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

Answer 3

Bible says, really, to not murder. And the death penalty is not murder.

St. Thomas Aquinas argued that the death penalty is justified in that the common good of society is more important than what is good for one person.

In 1995, John Paul II (I'm not Catholic, but do respect the guy a lot and share many of his social opinions) declared that capital punishment is should very rarely be condoned.

My own thoughts? I'm torn on the issue. I don't think there's an easy answer. I think the feelings of the victim's family, the feelings of the criminal's family, the chance for rehabilitation, and a variety of other factors is too much for me to realisticly consider. I believe from a legal standpoint, the law should be able to have that option. From a religious standpoint, I don't have a definite answer.

Matt

Answer 4

It is right as rain. The only problem with it in the U.S.A. is that it is not tried, appealed, and wrapped up quickly enough. It should be a thorough, but speedy trial. Once the appeal which should also be speedy is satisfied, execute upon leaving the courtroom. A month maximum in capital cases.I think the capital cases would drop off to near nothing in just a few months.

AEN

Answer 5

That's a tough one. On the one hand, I can't see using tax payer money to feed a killer for the rest of his life, and on the other hand, because their have been so many innocent people convicted of crimes wrongfully, I would think that a decent amount of time should pass before we pull the plug. I think if we definitely know a person is guilty of murder, even if they are crazy, they should be put to sleep and we will let God decide in the resurrection what their next fate will be.

Answer 6

I'm against the death penalty for 2 kind of opposite reasons:

1) If a person is wrongly convicted, there is no bringing him back.

2) If a person has committed a particularly heinous crime, death by lethal injection is too soft a punishment. What kind of punishment is going to sleep?
.

Answer 7

As a former Republican, I used to be a strong supporter of the death penalty. But two wrongs can't make it right.

Killing is wrong.

Peace be with you.

Answer 8

Yes it is right. Some people have shown they have no right to live on this earth. God can forgive them, but their out of here. I guess I don't see it as killing, but justice. We all see some killing as justified(like a criminal breaking into your home), and the death penalty is in that category.

Answer 9

This was part of the law of Moses and within that law of society at that time, inspired judges that I believe were called by God in there ways and methods, would go by that law.

But could it be that part of this law was that people who confessed on there own were sometimes waved from the full punishment of the law. It seems to me. In are ways and laws now, we don't live all the benefits of those that were there in a that time and place who were governed by a prophet of God, so should any of us judge? How could we be qualified?

Answer 10

As an atheist I find the death penalty morally repugnant.