preview

Capital Punishment Religion

Better Essays

Introduction
The concept of capital punishment is one that has successfully caused massive controversy in America throughout history. Also known as the death penalty, this is an extreme form of punishment that is placed upon a person who has committed a crime (in most cases, murder) that the government deems worthy of execution. In current times, the death penalty usually comes as a result of extreme cases of murder in which the court decides the convict deserves to die. Because of its intensity, the topic is one that many American citizens have debated about over time. Many oppose the idea because they believe it to be inhumane and unacceptable in many ways. However, as long as there have been those who are against it, there have also been …show more content…

As Morris J. Fish states in An Eye for an Eye: Proportionality as a Moral Principle of Punishment, the Bible specifically discusses this in the Old Testament in regards to different types of punishments. The author continues to inform the reader that in all of the Bible’s examples, they “require mirror punishments, that is, punishments which are meant to reflect the crime precisely, such as capital punishment for murder” (Fish 2008, 58). It is most likely because of the presence of this concept in the Bible that many people who consider themselves to be religious decide to support capital punishment. These people believe that if a person has chosen to take someone else’s life, then they have no right to continue living themselves. Why should someone who is guilty receive the privilege of a longer life when the innocent person they have killed does …show more content…

In my opinion, the execution of a killer is just as unacceptable as the murder that they committed. The first reason behind this opinion is that deterrence has nothing to do with the death penalty. If a person has a desire to kill, nothing is going to stop them, not even the possibility of their own death. It seems that recently, many of the large homicides seem to end in the killer committing suicide anyway, so at least at this point in time, deterrence does not exist in this scenario. Another reason to disagree with capital punishment is that it is sinful. Being a religious person, I believe it is completely wrong to kill anyone, even a criminal. Though some take the Bible’s ‘eye for an eye’ concept as literal, it is not meant to be interpreted in that way. Even without involving religion, to kill is simply immoral in every way. Just because someone did a terrible thing, does not mean that they should have that done upon them in return, especially in the case of the death penalty. The concept of capital punishment is basically fighting fire with fire, and that is not the way to

Get Access