Methods The question that I am interested in for research is, “Does a person’s view of the Bible influence what they think about the death penalty for murderers.” I would like to see if a person’s view of the bible influence what they think of the death penalty. This is interesting to me because I am interested in the field of criminal justice and the death penalty is a huge topic to this day. There are many journals that talk about studies that were done on religion and views of the death penalty which have to do with my topic of interest. My hypothesis is that those who believe that the bible is the Word of God, or the truth, will support the death penalty for murder. In a study done by Baron that was talked about in an journal showed that when someone consults the bible before deciding if someone should be put to death they oppose it (Baron, 2009). In addition, it has been stated, in an journal written about a study by Unnever, Bartkowsi and Cullen, that those who had a stronger relationship with God were more likely to oppose the death penalty ( Unnever, Bartkowsi, and Cullen. 2010). It was also said in a study done and talked about in the journal, that those who believed the bible was the “direct word of God,” favored the death penalty (Miller, Hayward, 2008). In another study done and talked about by Young, the results showed that those who believed in the Bible were more likely to support the death penalty (Young, 1992). In an article that was written it was stated that those who have a more literal view of the Bible tend to support harsher punishments (Mencken, Johnson, Desmond and Bader, 2010). Not every study agrees with the other but looking at statistics will be interesting to see if there is a relationship between... ... middle of paper ... ... CASE FOR KEEPING THE BIBLE OUT OF CAPITAL SENTENCING DELIBERATIONS. Northwestern University Law Review, 103(1), 369- 399. Carson Mencken, F. , Johnson, B. , Desmond, S. , & Bader, C. (2010). Divine justice: The relationship between images of god and attitudes toward criminal punishment. Criminal Justice Review, 35(1), 90-106. GSS Codebook Miller, M. , & Hayward, R. (2008). Religious characteristics and the death penalty. Law and Human Behavior, 32(2), 113-123. Unnever, J. D., Bartkowski, J. P., & Cullen, F. T. (2010). God Imagery and Opposition to Abortion and Capital Punishment: A Partial Test of Religious Support for the Consistent Life Ethic*. Sociology Of Religion, 71(3), 307-322. doi:10.1093/socrel/srq046. Young, R. (1992). Religious orientation, race and support for the death penalty. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 31(1), 76-87.
Jacobs, David and Jason T. Carmichael. 2002. “The Political Sociology of the Death Penalty: A Pooled Time-Series Analysis.” American Sociological Review 67: 109-131.
...eter, Richard C. “Death Penalty Information Center” A Crisis of Confidence: Americans’ Doubts about the Death Penalty. 2007. 1-30 Print.
There are two different kinds of righteousness that are explained through scripture; passive righteousness and active righteousness. In the film Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen, a nun, comforts Matthew, a convicted murderer and rapist, and the tension between her comforting Matthew over the families loss of their children grows. Sister Helen opposes the death penalty, whereas the Apostle Paul, in Romans 13, did not object to the death penalty. The Apostle Paul teaches that we must live by grace with each other, but Paul also clearly states that we are to obey and respect human government. Passive righteousness and active righteousness are examined in Dead Man Walking.
Race plays a large factor in showing how you are viewed in society. Although there is no longer slavery and separate water fountains, we can still see areas of our daily life clearly affected by race. One of these areas is the criminal justice system and that is because the color of your skin can easily yet unfairly determine if you receive the death penalty. The controversial evidence showing that race is a large contributing factor in death penalty cases shows that there needs to be a change in the system and action taken against these biases. The issue is wide spread throughout the United States and can be proven with statistics. There is a higher probability that a black on white crime will result in a death penalty verdict than black on black or white on black. Race will ultimately define the final ruling of the sentence which is evident in the racial disparities of the death penalty. The amount of blacks on death row can easily be seen considering the majority of the prison population is black or blacks that committed the same crime as a white person but got a harsher sentence. The biases and prejudices that are in our society relating to race come to light when a jury is selected to determine a death sentence. So what is the relationship between race and the death penalty? This paper is set out to prove findings of different race related sentences and why blacks are sentenced to death more for a black on white crime. Looking at the racial divide we once had in early American history and statistics from sources and data regarding the number of blacks on death row/executed, we can expose the issues with this racial dilemma.
Narration: When it comes to the death penalty there are Opponents and Proponents and although both aim to defend and protect society from crime their beliefs differ in how to accomplish this.
Travelling around the world, this paper presents the various religious perspectives evidenced in recent actions taken regarding the death penalty.
The death penalty continues to be an issue of controversy and is an issue that will be debated in the United States for many years to come. According to Hugo A. Bedau, the writer of “The Death Penalty in America”, capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The death penalty has been used since ancient times for a variety of offenses. The Bible says that death should be done to anyone who commits murder, larceny, rapes, and burglary. It appears that public debate on the death penalty has changed over the years and is still changing, but there are still some out there who are for the death penalty and will continue to believe that it’s a good punishment. I always hear a lot of people say “an eye for an eye.” Most people feel strongly that if a criminal took the life of another, their’s should be taken away as well, and I don’t see how the death penalty could deter anyone from committing crimes if your going to do the crime then at that moment your not thinking about being on death role. I don’t think they should be put to death they should just sit in a cell for the rest of their life and think about how they destroy other families. A change in views and attitudes about the death penalty are likely attributed to results from social science research. The changes suggest a gradual movement toward the eventual abolition of capital punishment in America (Radelet and Borg, 2000).
Ethics and morality are the founding reasons for both supporting and opposing the death penalty, leading to the highly contentious nature of the debate. When heinous crimes are com...
In arguments against the death penalty in the United States, several themes have remained constant. Abolitionists have always claimed that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent, or at least, nobetter than long term imprisonment. Furthermore they argue that it imposed unreasonable risks in the possibility of executing the wrong person; that a willingness to use it tends to brutalize society; that it has never been administered in a morally unobjectable manner; and finally that it is used mainly against relatively defenseless members of minority groups. During the past generation, opposition to the death penalty has been put into the context of a struggle to wipe out racism.
“The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013
Brodsky, Stanley, Tell L. Neal, and Michelle A. Jones. "A Reasoned Argument Against Banning Psychologists' Involvement In Death Penalty Cases." Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, 8 Dec. 2013. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
“By virtually any definition, religion involves a central concern with making sense of life and death. The American legal system, rooted in Judeo-Christian ethics, routinely confronts issues that test our basic assumptions about the meaning and sanctity of life and about the role of the State in shaping and sustaining such meanings” (Young,1992). In the study conducted by Miller and Bornstein in 2006 regarding the use of religion and religious appeals in a death penalty case, the researchers set out to find if these “religious appeals influenced the way of thinking. It is said that defense attorneys are hired to defend their client and give an argument that will be most beneficial to the client. There are various cases that have occurred dealing with the religious appeal argument that attorneys have used to persuade jurors to favor their clients.... ...
2) Gollwitzer, Helmut. The Existence of God: As Confessed By Faith. Philadelphia: The Westminister Press, 1965
Capital Punishment, Atonement, and the Christian Right.Full Text Available By: Styers, Randall. Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, Fall2007, Vol. 18 Issue 3, p97-127, 31p
Houdmann, Michael. How do God’s mercy and justice work together in salvation?. . 5 Dec. 2013 .