I have just finished reading John Grisham's The Confession and am now - if that's possible - even more against Capital Punishment than I was before.
Almost all of the so called civilised world has given up on Capital Punishment - some in recent years and Portugal (one of the first) 110 years ago.
The two main reasons to stop such an evil and archaic form of punishment are obvious - revenge should have no place in justice and it is wrong to kill.
The most worrying aspect of Capital Punishment in some states in the USA for instance, are its supporters. An army made up mostly of Bible-bashers who constantly ask God for forgiveness but are themselves incapable of forgiving. The supporters range from ordinary folk to pastors, vicars and other so-called men-of-God and most worryingly, vote-hungry politicians.
Hypocrisy of the highest form when you consider Jesus' teachings about "turning the other cheek" and "let he who is free of sin, cast the first stone".
Thou Shalt Not Kill!
The Bible doesn't say "thou shalt not kill unless you are the State condemning to death a criminal who has been convicted of murder in the court of man - often wrongly - but never mind if the odd innocent is put to death by mistake" Does it?
No it doesn't.
I would challenge any "real" Christian who supports Capital Punishment to write a comment explaining their position. In fact I would challenge anyone, regardless of their beliefs, to justify Capital Punishment.
The simple truth is that there is no justification.
It is not a deterrent (check stats of murder rates in the states with CP against those without)
It is inhuman.
It is pure revenge
I have written a couple of posts in the past about this most unpleasant subject, with more details and statistics. For those of you who may want to read more, here are the links.
http://joesgossip.blogspot.com/2010/09/and-another-murder-goes-unpunished.html
http://joesgossip.blogspot.com/2010/09/when-justice-is-tainted-by-revenge-poor.html
Rant over, I feel better now.
:)
Yes, I've always been against capital punishment and it's strange that you've posted this today. Yesterday after I heard about the Carl Whant case, I said to a friend that I think I could throw the lever on this guy you know. http://goo.gl/omv9v
ReplyDeleteI also feel that way at times when the crime seems so henious - I say it through anger and a desire for revenge - but anger and revenge are not conducive with justice. Thanks Dicky for the link :)
DeleteThis is a difficult subject... Australia does not have capital punishment and I support that...however..
ReplyDeleteThere are some people who are just pure evil, just not capable of learning to be good and are just not worth keeping alive. Unrepentant murderers, child killers etc.
If a dog goes bad we have no problem shooting it, I see no difference between that and the human animal gone bad.
Dont get me wrong here, I do not support the death penalty used in ordinary cases, as you point out there are to many innocents buried for no good reason. Just the few very bad cases where there is no doubt whatsoever and no chance of repentance.
I understand your view Tempo. But to me, one innocent life taken is one too many. Justice fails many,too often, when police, due to pressure, put expediency ahead of virtue
ReplyDeleteAgreed, it's not a perfect world and sadly, never will be...
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