The death penalty and religion

I oppose the death penalty for a number of reasons, but here I'm interested in the logic of the faithful who support the death penalty. The standard answer from pro-death believers is that the ten commandments don't apply; that we are told not to murder but killing is okie dokie when it's an eye for an eye, or whatever logic applies.

Okay, let's assume that's true. So my question is this: Is the court system beyond question? Is it an instrument of God that is infallable? Does the bible tell us that institutions of men are perfect?

If not, then we must assume that on occasion, innocent people have been put to death by the justice system. Therefore, to support the death penalty is to knowingly support murder. How does a Christian justify the willful support of murder; be it rare or not?

 

I think that a lot of people take 'Christian' to mean 'whatever is normal in my society'. Clearly you are right: no Christian could support blood-revenge of this kind - but the unthinking just go along with what they're used to, I suppose.

 

Ah, but indeed we find that those who pound their bibles the loudest are the most likely to support murder.

Views on death penalty

http://www.religioustolerance.org/execut7.htm

 

Nobody can have a rational conversation with you on this subject. You calumnate those who disagree with you as "pro-death" and then procede to tell a list of falsehoods about what they believe. Your mind is wide shut and you'll never understand anything beyond your own dim, illiberal POV.

You suck at discussion boards.

 

Christians don't support death penalty. See for example: http://www.cacp.org/resources.html

http://youtu.be/lUvYR2ZYjVY

 

You don't speak for all Christians.

 

I support the death penalty because the death penalty was delegated by God to man. And, this responsibility has never been revoked.

Quantrill

 

What did I say that is false? I posted a link showing that fundamentalist Christians are the most likely to support the death penalty. I also made the undeniably true logical argument that Christians, by their own faith, cannot believe that the courts are perfect. This is derived from the belief that all men are fallible, [only Christ was perfect] so must be their institutions. Therefore we must assume that innocent people are sometimes executed and Christians are supporting this. That is murder, and murderers and the people who support them go to hell unless they repent and are forgiven.

Am I to take it that as a Christian, you can only offer personal attacks? God bless.

 

So you support the killing of innocent people? Don't you go to hell for that? How are you not supporting Satan in this belief?

 

Based on the pitch of your rhetoric and your mindless hyperbole, it's impossible to have a rational discussion on this topic with you. Your personal attacks on many fellow Christians is unconscienable.

 

Impossible to have a rational discussion with me? ROFL. I have stated facts. Your have done nothing but wage personal attacks.

I hope you like hell.

 

Good joke.

http://youtu.be/rg6Qxp-UQRg

 

What's your christian confession?

http://youtu.be/gIBRRYs1AFo

 

I said I support the death penalty. God instituted the death penalty and gave it to man to carry out.

Quantrill

 

I am a Christian, Protestant.

Quantrill

 

"Protestant" is not the name of a church - that's indeed a very big differnce to the word "catholic". Neverthelless all protestant churches in Germany are against every of death penalty. What's the concretre name of your own church? I like to see what they are saying about death penalty. Maybe they are they misunderstanding something in his message or you are an heretics so I have to burn you on a stake.

http://youtu.be/tL1acYvpR_E

 

God says "Do not kill" - and human beings are saying "God instituted the death penalty and gave it to man to carry out." What shall I believe - your words or his words?

To be honest: I think in former times there were really reasons to kill someone, because it was nearly impossible to isolate extreme dangerous and violent persons in prisons and/or hospitals. So death penalty was sometimes something like a kind of self-defense and not murder only. Today it's nothing else than only murder. It's by the way also cruel of the american society to arrest people for decades until they become executed. Every animal is much more graceful. You should decide what you like to be - an animal speaking nonsense about the christian religion - or a Christian on the side of Jesus Christ, who was himselve a victim of a most cruel form of death penalty.

http://youtu.be/gx2Mc5K9VO0

 

You can imagine Jesus taking a job as executioner perhaps? Do any of you people ever read the NEW Testament at all? That is what Christianity is about, you know. You sound like a very illiberal Jew to me.

 

I never heard that Jews are supporting death penalty. As far as I heard the babylonian Talmud doesn't allow death penalty.

http://youtu.be/_fUAVdGIV-Q

 

I don't support the death penalty unless there is immanent threat to others like civil unrest of an unstable society if a person remains in custody--e.g. Saddam Hussein had to go.

 

Rhetoric question: What became better in Romania when Nicolae Ceaușescu became a victim of death penalty? Answer: nothing! It was even counterproductive because it gave a wrong feeling "Now it's over" - but it was not over. No one who was murdered from Ceaușescu was able to come back only because he was also dead. But many murderers and other criminals escaped from justice on earth and continued to corrupt their country.

It's much more better if the people notice that dictators are also nothing else than only human beings like all others are only human beings. To murder dictators means to feel fear under psychological pressure - and it means to have to fullfill somehow the evil will of a tyrant who is thinking himselve in categories of murder and might.

We have strong rules - but we are keeping this rules under our own free will. This makes us responsible and free and this makes us even very mighty because we are able to control ourselve with our own strength. Someone who is really mighty doesn't feel the need to murder someone else - whatever this man had done. Our christian peace is not the peace of the graveyards - it's the peace of the beating hearts, a livefull peace. Our peace is not without risk but it's also a peace with lots of chances.

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/4208922/Gregorian_band_Hymn

 

I stand corrected, supposing that the Old Testament - which fundamentalists quote to justify their anti-Christian behaviour - represented ancient Judaism.

 

I don't think, that this form of 'christian' religion has anything to do with Judaism and the Old Testament. In general: If two people are reading the same book it is not the same book. And Jews are also not antichristians - although a kind of paradox is existing that some christians are antisemites without realizing that they are the same time antichristians if they are antisemites. But I heard there are also Jews existing who are frustrated beause a Jew is always a Jew without any possiblity to change the own identity.

http://youtu.be/Wof2YpTjFao

 

I agree with everything you say there, and I am certainly not advocating death, I am merely suggesting that it is understandable in tenuous political environments--certainly not as retribution, but rather for demonstrable stability.

 

Because you, too many Christians, don't understand the separation between the kingdom of heaven and earthly kingdoms that Jesus spelled out over and over. Jesus gave no commandment or even a recommendation for how governments should operate. His teachings do not apply to the state, they apply to his followers. Your suggestion that Jesus might take up the job of executioner, even in parody, demonstrates your complete ignorance of the two overlapping paradigms that Jesus kept separate. He is a heavenly king, not an earthly king. You don't know the difference.