That's what it is. Capital punishment in a civilized society--it's incomprehensible to me. Why do we do this, especially nowadays, with all the information before us that proves it doesn't work?
Let me give you some reasons why its wrong, and I won't start with religious arguments.
1. It doesn't work to cure violence. Think about it. Can you bite a toddler to teach him not to bite? Besides the fact that biting the child doesn't stop him from biting, you have just taught him that he who bites harder wins. And state authorized executions are inefficient and brutal. Modern civilized society has many other methods of penal conduct to employ.
2. Capital punishment is a denial of the due process law. It denies the individual the opportunity to present new evidence, or the opportunity to benefit from new laws, or scientific procedures to prove his innocence.
3. It is cruel and unusual punishment because out of the modern industrial countries, the United States is the only one that still has capital punishment. And we think sharia law is brutal! IOW, capital punishment is rejected by other Western countries because it is cruel. We're the only ones who still have it, therefore it is unusual.
4. Capital punishment discriminates. How come most of the executions are done on black poor people? The answer is because they don't have the money to pay for a good lawyer.
5. It's a waste of money. The cost of prosecuting attorneys, defense counsel, juries, courtroom personnel, and all the fines accrued, plus appeals, after appeals, cost more than incarceration for life.
I have one more reason that I want to add that bridges secular and religious arguments. That is that a society that respects life does not kill to solve its problems.
Religious reasons:
1. Life for life is Old Testament. It's sharia law. We'd all be dead if we carried this out, much like we'd all be blind if we practiced an "eye for an eye." And when you make a mistake, "oops?". That's what we're doing. Executing a man and finding out that he's innocent--"oops."
2. We all are made in the likeness of God and as such deserve respect. This is why Christians minister to those less fortunate than ourselves.
3. Christians forgive. That does not mean that murderers should be free. Punishment should be applied, but human life must always be respected! (Read that last sentence again, because it's important enough to be repeated.)
Keep these points in mind when you think about the execution of Troy Davis. And kudos to the Vatican for strongly expressing its opposition to this erroneous application of capital punishment.
Let me give you some reasons why its wrong, and I won't start with religious arguments.
1. It doesn't work to cure violence. Think about it. Can you bite a toddler to teach him not to bite? Besides the fact that biting the child doesn't stop him from biting, you have just taught him that he who bites harder wins. And state authorized executions are inefficient and brutal. Modern civilized society has many other methods of penal conduct to employ.
2. Capital punishment is a denial of the due process law. It denies the individual the opportunity to present new evidence, or the opportunity to benefit from new laws, or scientific procedures to prove his innocence.
3. It is cruel and unusual punishment because out of the modern industrial countries, the United States is the only one that still has capital punishment. And we think sharia law is brutal! IOW, capital punishment is rejected by other Western countries because it is cruel. We're the only ones who still have it, therefore it is unusual.
4. Capital punishment discriminates. How come most of the executions are done on black poor people? The answer is because they don't have the money to pay for a good lawyer.
5. It's a waste of money. The cost of prosecuting attorneys, defense counsel, juries, courtroom personnel, and all the fines accrued, plus appeals, after appeals, cost more than incarceration for life.
I have one more reason that I want to add that bridges secular and religious arguments. That is that a society that respects life does not kill to solve its problems.
Religious reasons:
1. Life for life is Old Testament. It's sharia law. We'd all be dead if we carried this out, much like we'd all be blind if we practiced an "eye for an eye." And when you make a mistake, "oops?". That's what we're doing. Executing a man and finding out that he's innocent--"oops."
2. We all are made in the likeness of God and as such deserve respect. This is why Christians minister to those less fortunate than ourselves.
3. Christians forgive. That does not mean that murderers should be free. Punishment should be applied, but human life must always be respected! (Read that last sentence again, because it's important enough to be repeated.)
Keep these points in mind when you think about the execution of Troy Davis. And kudos to the Vatican for strongly expressing its opposition to this erroneous application of capital punishment.
No comments:
Post a Comment