Religious Discussion-- Capital Punishment

[satin_patriot]

Ok, please forgive me if this is stepping over the line, and please, Miss Katie or Miss Marianne, feel free to move or delete this if you feel it is inappropriate. That being said...

A lot of political discussion has been/is being had over the execution of Saddam Hussein, however, there hasn't been a lot of religious discussion. I know how I personally feel about this and why, but I'd like to get others' perspectives as well. Please let me know:

How do you think capital punishment fits in with your religious worldview?
(Judeo-Christian beliefs can find a firm basis for it within scripture, but there is yet much arguing over the gospel of forgiveness and how it relates. Some believe that it goes against the loving nature of God, etc.) What are your views? If you are not of the Judeo-Christian persuasion, how does it fit into your religious beliefs and why?

Please feel free to elaborate on beliefs about death, dying, resurrection, if you feel it pertains to the discussion at hand.

Again, I'm not trying to push buttons or cause a fracas, but would like to become educated on others viewpoints. Any thoughts??

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by satin_patriot

Ok, please forgive me if this is stepping over the line, and please, Miss Katie or Miss Marianne, feel free to move or delete this if you feel it is inappropriate. That being said...

A lot of political discussion has been/is being had over the execution of Saddam Hussein, however, there hasn't been a lot of religious discussion. I know how I personally feel about this and why, but I'd like to get others' perspectives as well. Please let me know:

How do you think capital punishment fits in with your religious worldview?
(Judeo-Christian beliefs can find a firm basis for it within scripture, but there is yet much arguing over the gospel of forgiveness and how it relates. Some believe that it goes against the loving nature of God, etc.) What are your views? If you are not of the Judeo-Christian persuasion, how does it fit into your religious beliefs and why?

Please feel free to elaborate on beliefs about death, dying, resurrection, if you feel it pertains to the discussion at hand.

Again, I'm not trying to push buttons or cause a fracas, but would like to become educated on others viewpoints. Any thoughts??

I'd love to see this out in P/CP since only a handfull of members belong to the PARD and I think we'd have a wonderful debate out there.

While God is All Merciful and All Loving, He is also All Just. I have no problem with executing predatory people and, while the Pope and some Liberal Catholics preach against it, it is not against the tenets of my faith to support execution because when the Pope speaks out on this, it is not ex cathedra (definitive and binding).

[BrianK]

I'm not very good at expressing an opinion about religion. Especially about what does or doesn't constitute how man determines what he thinks our maker wants. I do know that some portions of the bible do cite his anger and ability to wipe out mankind. Noah & the Ark come to mind.

Then there is the free will thing, we supposedly get to chose. If that is true then those that chose to eliminate other humans because "they" have chosen to eliminate other humans seems to be fair.

Religion & capital punishment comes down to this. All in all man makes up the rules as he goes along. What works depends on who is making the rules at any given time. The rules are then translated in to laws that a country abides by. Concerning Hussein, Iraq decided that hanging was appropriate. I don't think the world has the right to demand otherwise.

[Snowden]

For the most part, I have been and am in opposition to the death penalty. Yes, at least partly because my faith as a Christian means I am against killing another. But also because I can't see what good it does - again, for the most part.

For somebody like Hussein, whose very name struck terror in the hearts of women, children and men - especially those who loved those women and children and were helpless to make them safe from Saddam and his sons. He had to die so they could eventually realize he was no long able to harm them.

So there you are - I am against the death penalty, but my feelings as a Christian are not sufficient to keep me from seeing it as necessary in this case.

The same may be said for people who harm innocent children for their sexual perversions.

The death penalty for the purpose of "closure," I do not see and never will. Are we so vengeful that we can find comfort in the death of someone who killed someone we love? "Vengence is mine," says the Lord - and we Christians expect Him to do that for us. The death of the killer will in no way bring back the one killed, it will not restore the child's innocence and ability to be a child again. Those restorations are the only things that would bring me anything like "closure," and since the memory would linger on, it would still be a cold comfort.

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by Snowden

For the most part, I have been and am in opposition to the death penalty. Yes, at least partly because my faith as a Christian means I am against killing another. But also because I can't see what good it does - again, for the most part.

You'll find a lot of Christians who's faith doesn't mean that criminals cannot be executed. We are only against murder.

The death penalty for the purpose of "closure," I do not see and never will. Are we so vengeful that we can find comfort in the death of someone who killed someone we love? "Vengence is mine," says the Lord - and we Christians expect Him to do that for us. The death of the killer will in no way bring back the one killed, it will not restore the child's innocence and ability to be a child again. Those restorations are the only things that would bring me anything like "closure," and since the memory would linger on, it would still be a cold comfort.

The death penalty has nothing to do with vengence even though there are always those who will try and equate them.

The death penalty has everything to do with justice. Giving that justice to surviving victims goes a long way toward helping them heal.

[Master_Blastard]

Very interesting topic. You either are for or against the death penalty. There is no middle ground. If you are for the death penalty, then you have to determine the line at which it is given. If you are against the death penalty, you draw the line that no matter what hideous crimes an individual commits they are only put in jail or released (if put in jail at all) to continue to be a burden on society and its people.

The death penalty is not a religious thing. It is a government thing. WWJD and all that other bunk is a waste of time and spiritual dishonesty. I am an evangelical Christian so don't whine about my religious intolerance. I would love to see everyone saved and no more crime, but reality is different in this fallen world. Even those who are "saved" still do hideous things. And, people use religon as an excuse to transfer responsibility from themselves.

Muslims use Sharia law to oppress and kill. The pope claims that the death penalty is wrong (killing the flesh) but excommunication is okay (spiritual death and no heaven). Evangelical lunitics get their congregations to commit suicide. Secular progressives and peace activists claim to want peace but they are truly the most violent people I have ever met/seen. And, the list goes on.

The death penalty is neither a deterent or vengence. In today's legal system, it is barely justice. The death penalty removes a problem from society so it cannot repeat its past behavior.

Here are a few thought to digest on the death penalty:

If the death penalty is so bad why did the Father allow His Son to be put to death via the death penalty?

Which is more immoral, putting a human to death for hideous crimes or burdening society with the upkeep of the same criminal for the rest of its life or releasing it back on the street to do it again?

For those who don't believe in the death penalty, what do you propose we do with the habitual violent criminals and how do you propose we pay for it?

For those who believe in the death penalty, what do you propose we do to prevent innocents from being given the death penalty and how do you propose we pay for it?

mb