Capital Punishment
"Let's keep society safe and give murderers what they deserve - the
death penalty".
In this essay I will hope to set out both sides of the argument, for
and against Capital Punishment. The advantages and the disadvantages
will be considered in conjunction with Christian teachings and belief.
The Christian teachings, Old Testament and New Testament will also be
compared with human reactions to the subject. From my research and
analysis in this essay I will be able to come to a conclusion as to
whether or not I feel the death penalty is ever justified
Murder is a crime whether you look at the Bible - Thou shalt not kill
The Sixth Commandment - or at a book of English law - Murder: an
indictable crime punishable in a court of law.
There are advantages to Capital Punishment and the threat of the death
penalty. It is a deterrent and a clear warning that says, if you
commit this crime and take a person's life your life will also be
taken from you. This is echoed in Christian teachings from the Old
Testament Exodus 21:24 - "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth".
But this is not forgiving or promoting peace, which is what Jesus
taught and it is he, above all others that Christianity is all about.
Another thing that Jesus taught was to 'love your neighbour as
yourself' and therefore protect him, as you would want to be
protected. If protecting another means removing a murderer from
society permanently then it cannot be wrong to do so. But then there
is the question of the murderer's right to protection and if every man
is your neighbour then the murderer is as-well and therefore you
cannot hurt him bec...
... middle of paper ...
... not and that opinion will be influenced by the circumstances
and personal involvement.
It is my opinion that the death penalty can never be justified no
matter how strong your feelings are for it. What a person has done
does not affect the care they get. Every person is different and that
is why judging others by your own standards is wrong. I hope that I
have viewed this subject objectively and represented religious and
non-religious feelings justly. In conclusion the death penalty can
never be justified and I disagree with the title statement.
Bibliography
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The Bible Old and New Testaments: Sermon on the Mount
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The Lord's Prayer
Contemporary Issues - Capital Punishment. Pages 52 - 55
Dorling Kindersley Encyclopaedia.
Many positions can be defended when debating the issue of capital punishment. In Jonathan Glover's essay "Executions," he maintains that there are three views that a person may have in regard to capital punishment: the retributivist, the absolutist, and the utilitarian. Although Glover recognizes that both statistical and intuitive evidence cannot validate the benefits of capital punishment, he can be considered a utilitarian because he believes that social usefulness is the only way to justify it. Martin Perlmutter on the other hand, maintains the retributivist view of capital punishment, which states that a murderer deserves to be punished because of a conscious decision to break the law with knowledge of the consequences. He even goes as far to claim that just as a winner of a contest has a right to a prize, a murderer has a right to be executed. Despite the fact that retributivism is not a position that I maintain, I agree with Perlmutter in his claim that social utility cannot be used to settle the debate about capital punishment. At the same time, I do not believe that retributivism justifies the death penalty either.
“This is not a nice man … innocent is not a word that suits him in any way,” says Brian Webster when speaking of Matthew Poncelet, the man on death row in the movie Dead Man Walking. Many people feel that the death penalty is immoral and it should not be used; however I feel completely opposite. I believe that capital punishment is a fair sentence for a murderer to receive. In the movie Dead Man Walking, the main character Matthew Poncelet, is on death row waiting for the lethal injection that will soon put him to death for good.
There are many scriptural references that make the point that the murderer must be punished. Nevertheless, biblical tradition is also replete with reminders that vengeance belongs to the Lord and that he enjoins the qualities of compassion and forgiveness on those believers in the biblical revelation of God. (Amo...
man from killing again then so be it. I don't know if it is immoral
murder rates in given areas both before and after an execution. Clear and cole(2000) have
The death penalty dates back to the eighteenth century. Criminals received many punishments throughout the centuries such as hangings, quartering, and burning at the stake. The death penalty consists of lethal injections today. The death penalty is a controversial topic because some people are for the death penalty and some people are against the death penalty. There is no one consensus for or against the death penalty. Although there have been many studies on the immorality of the death penalty and whether or not to limit the death penalty in some ways or just completely abolish it all together. It appears that more people are leading towards getting rid of the death penalty, but the courts want to keep it because the courts argue that that it is a successful fear tactic and may prevent future crimes. The death penalty is inhumane, biased, arbitrary, and an unsuccessful fear tactic so it should be abolished.
Capital Punishment I recently read an article from the ACLU, written by Adam Bedau. It explained, quite eloquently, that for society to execute a murderer made society no better than the murderer himself. He said, “The executioner is no better than the criminal.” I was impressed by this moral stance, but I was surprised to read that he failed to apply this logic consistently. For example, the he went on to argue that life imprisonment would be a more appropriate penalty for murder than death. Using this ACLU logic, it appears that for our society to lock someone in a room against his will and not free him for a considerable length of time makes our society no better than the everyday kidnapper. But if an individual locked another up against his will, wouldn’t the ACLU view this as kidnapping. Being from the Methodist faith I found this argument somewhat difficult. For in the Bible there is a scripture that states, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” I presume the ACLU would agree that beatings or torture are also unacceptable forms of punishment for crimes. They seem to be inhumane. Yet in Eastern cultures, if one steals something, they lose a finger or two and sometimes an entire hand depending on the severity of the crime. This seems to be reason enough not to steal, as in these cultures there is a very low theft rate. Maybe the ACLU would find a monetary fine a more appropriate punishment? For society to take money away from someone against his will without giving him any tangible goods in return would make society a thief. Of course, the Bedau also explains that capital punishment brutalizes society, leading to even more murders. If we, as a society, adopt this no-punishment position, it logically follows that there would be less crime. Once criminals realized that no matter what they did, no fellow citizen would lift a finger to stop them, why, they’d just be so overcome with the generosity of their neighbors that they’d naturally be inclined to become upstanding, productive citizens.
At the began as we know the capital punishment is the most popular problem in our world in these days .Meaning of capital punishment is killing someone who killed another one Regardless of whatever reasons, moreover in our life there are several reasons which push killer to do this mistakes .Now in many countries and stasis use this the penalty for justice, on the other hand there are some countries do not use capital punishment for many reasons .For example , they said we have to respect human rights due to put the killer in jail forever ,in additionin some other parts in our world use this Punishment to get a justice as Saudi Arabia ,Iran ,China and USA. Some of the religions tell us to do this Punishment because God's law of the land as Islam, overtime some religion do not use this punishment as Buddhism."The death penalty has been part of human society for millennia, understood to be the ultimate punishment for the most serious crimes". At this point we understand the capital punishment is the biggest mistake and the most serious that cannot be forgiven. The death penalty represents a controversial issue in some cultures.The argument of the supporters of the death penalty in that it deters crime.
Capital punishment was a corrective measure that was widely used all over the world. It is difficult to pin point the exact date of it's origin but it is a fact that it was practiced intensely during medieval times. Crimes have occurred probably since the beginning of time and therefore there was a need for a counter attack to minimize if not eradicate it completely. Laws were created for this purpose, but like everything man creates they have proved imperfect and in some cases entirely unacceptable.
Capital punishment is a very controversial subject in today’s world. People should think about what will happen to them if they commit a crime, and the consequences that will follow the crime. Society has enough problems to deal with without people committing crimes, Therefore capital punishment is desperately needed.
years. It has always been considered a relatively cheap and effective way to punish the
Capital Punishment For my Personal Research Study (PRS), I am going to research Capital Punishment. Capital Punishment is about taking a life for a life(s). For example if you commit a crime like Murder and you are convicted of murdering someone you could end up being killed by "The Electric Chair" or you could get an injection that will kill you. Capital Punishment is an interesting topic because people have debated about this subject for years.
He is escorted down to a room with handcuffs on both arms and feet. The tension in the room causes nervousness and a stirring in his stomach, which entombs his dinner from the night before. He is told to take a seat. Still in doubt of his fate he notices the witnesses and their various expressions. His family is grief-stricken, a sharp contrast to the family of the brutally murdered, for which he was found guilty of. If only they knew what he knew; for they would not be strapping him into the chair, soaking a sponge, and placing it on top of his head along with the metal skullcap. If they knew the truth there would be someone in his place today. But alas, the truth dies along with the innocent.
be put to death” (English Standard Version, Leviticus. 24. 17). In the Bible God really shows that
Capital Punishment Works Cited Not Included Capital Punishment was basically thought of for the good of society. The objective of Capital Punishment is to stop people from committing violent and offensive acts. Capital Punishment or the death penalty has failed, however, to prevent or discourage crime. Moreover, it is cruel and gruesome. At present, there are five methods of execution.