Death Penalty: the Christian View Essay

families are superior to the criminal precisely because they are not barbarians. Some Christians point out that the principle of lex talion ("An eye for eye") was commanded by God in the Old Testament. But if Christians really knew the ins and outs of this law, they would never quote it in defense of the death penalty. First, Jehovah ordered very strict criteria to be used in determining whether a death sentence should be carried out. Consider:…

The author’s bias comes to view in this example as well as another where O’Sullivan states that the arguments only appears formidable due to the fact that they “are repeated so frequently and in tones of such relentless moral self-gratification” (O’Sullivan7). This statement may leave one wondering what his intent is. Is he simply writing to annoy those who oppose capital punishment; is his attempting to start controversy; or is he writing for his own sense of moral self-gratification and if so,…

As a result of the Black Death, Europeans rebelled while Empires of Islam did not react unmanageably. As the disease became increasingly prominent, Europeans acted rebelliously. According to William Dene, a European chronicler, laborers and skilled workmen had such a spirit of rebellion that no higher authority could curb them (Document 6). This demonstrates how the Black Death changed the lifestyle of Europeans, causing people to resort to problematic alternatives for survival. Muslims, however…

He convinced Benjamin Franklin and Philadelphia Attorney General William Bradford of this view. Bradford later became the US Attorney General and he led PA to become the first state to consider degrees of murder based on culpability. PA repealed the death sentence for all crimes except first degree murder. The abolitionist movement gained momentum in the early nineteenth century. The most major development during this time was Pennsylvania's replacing public executions with closed session executions…

Christians for one teach peace, love, and forgiveness. The death penalty contradicts everything Christians stand for. Murder after murder is not peaceful, or loving. Executing is not forgiving. There are no second chances when a person is put to death. Instead of executing an inmate, put them through rehabilitation and allow for forgiveness. Many religions also teach that only God should choose who lives and dies. The death penalty is a lot like “playing God.” A human shouldn’t be given the ability…

In view of these safeguards, proponents of capital punishment believe that state executions are justified sentences for those convicted of willful first-degree murder. They do not think sentencing murderers to prison is a harsh enough sentence, especially if there is the possibility of parole for the perpetrator. A final argument posed by proponents of the death penalty is that execution is an effective deterrence. They are convinced that potential murderers will likely think twice before they commit…

This research led them to some conclusions and one of these conclusions was that we can be sure that the death penalty does not cause or eliminate large numbers of homicides or other sort’s of violence in the United States or Canada. This led them to further conclusions that the death penalty is an unethical way of reducing crime. This study was looking directly at interpreting the correlation between the sum of crimes committed and the amount of executions carried out. According to the findings…

does not compensate for the emotional distress created after he/she has been wrongly accused and punished. Not only does the death penalty run the risk of killing an innocent citizen, but it also violates the Constitution through the use or threat of “cruel and unusual punishment.” The opposing view might argue that it is only right for the individual responsible for the death of another individual to be killed also, but: “two wrongs do not make a right.” I feel that although one person made a drastic…

People opposed to the death penalty also point to the fact that over half of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty, including all other major industrialized, democratic nations. In the five countries with the highest homicide rates that do not impose the death penalty, the murder rate is 21.6 murders per 100,000 people. In the five countries with the highest homicide rates that do impose the death penalty, the murder rate is 41.6 murders per 100,000 people ("Deterrence"). Furthermore…

Against the Death Penalty “Murder is wrong” (“Capital Punishment”). We’ve been taught this indisputable truth since childhood. The death penalty is defined as one human taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is a classification of murder. There are as many as thirty-six states with the death penalty, and it’s essential that they change it. The United States needs the death penalty abolished because it is filled with flaws, cruel and immoral, and is an ineffective means of deterrent…