Can you truly be pro-life if you support capital punishment?
The prison industry has become one of the largest industries to date. Some of the concerns regarding capital punishment is the fact that throughout history, capital punishment has appeared to be racist. Majority of people on death row were black at one time. Although most capital punishment worthy crimes are committed by women, most of the people on death row are men.
An argument for capital punishment is that it is a deterrent for other criminals. However, over 3,000 people are on death row. I believe it was either in 2005 or 2004 that 60 people were executed. At this rate, it would take over a decade to execute everyone, even if we didn't add any more people. If the death penalty is really a deterrent, then why are there so many people on death row.
Maybe we focus too much on punishment rather than rehabilitation. We spend so much money on appeals and on supporting those who are incarcerated instead of focusing on helping these people. Often times, people on death row have been in and out of jail since they were teenagers. Kids in juvenille detention should not be simply brushed off as rebellious kids. We should help these kids, who usually have behavioral, emotional, or mental problems. I think rehabilitating these kids can help prevent them from becoming criminal adults.
I don't think it's possible to truly be pro-life if you are pro the death penalty.
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2 comments:
I have to disagree on that with you. I feel that one can be pro-life and pro-death-penalty.
Here's how:
1. babies are innocent of any crime other than sometimes being unwanted while death row is for those who have committed a crime that is worthy of death, i.e. murder.
2. the killing of babies is murder... and therefore many doctors ought to be on death row while the death penalty is the criminal getting what he deserves. i.e. you reap what you so... and "if a man sheds the blood of another man... his blood too shall be shed by men"
3. God has given us a mandate to use capital punishment on those who shed the blood of men... which I would include abortion.
The point is that you can be both pro-life and pro-capital-punishment using the Bible to prove it.
Xaed, I agree with point 1. You are right in saying that babies are innocent. I also agree with the fact that people on death row have committed a crime worthy of death, but this brings up a few questions. The first is, should everyone who has murdered be on death row? How about cases of self-defense, where the defendant kills the attacker? This is technically murder.
As for point 2, if we are going to put the doctors performing the abortion on death row, shouldn't we put the mothers on death row too? Afterall, it is her choice. With that, shouldn't we charge all those aware of the mother's plan for an abortion with obstruction of justice for not reporting a plan for murder?
Point 3, when Jesus died for our sins he created a new system. Even a murderer has the chance for Salvation. There are many people sentenced to life without parole who have found their way in Christ. I do not think it is our place to take that chance of redemption from anyone. The bible also tells us to turn the other cheek.
Some things to consider are that many murderers wind up killing themselves when they realize they will get caught. This implies that they consider spending their lives in prison a bigger consequence than death. Also, we are never 100% sure we've caught the right person. Today, not even confessions count because many people have confessed to crimes they did not commit. I think it is better to have the person alive in jail and if later proven to be innocent, at least they have the chance to restablish their lives.
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