The Death Penalty: The way to go or Murder?
An eye for an eye.
You kill someone and we kill you.
This concept of retribution has been the norm for most of humanities existence. Throughout history this bloody and often brutal revenge-based way of punishing wrongdoers has been not only accepted, but also condoned. But as the inequalities, social shortcomings, and overall substandard quality of life fade to history pages should we not also remove this fatal institution?
Can we really condone the execution of those who have killed? Is murder by an establishment expectable where as murder by citizens is punishable by death? In what way do we have the right to judge the guilt of another and act accordingly with the most final of acts?
Since 1971, when the death penalty was reinstated, a little over a 1,000 people have been executed. Some people have been proven innocent after their death. Though it may be a small number aren’t those lives worth letting everyone live?
Is the death penalty the only punishment or is it murder?
Comment your opinion.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Of course, the death penalty is not murder.
We execute guilty murderers who have murdered innocent people.
For those who don’t know the differrence between crime and punishment, guilty murderers and their innocent vicitms, this may be confusing.
For the rest of us, it is easy to understand.
The moral confusion exists when people blindly accept the amoral or immoral position that all killing is equal.
For those who believe all killing is morally equivalent, they would equate the slaughter of 6 million innocent Jews with the execution of those guilty murderers committing that slaughter.
They would also equate the rape and murder of children with the execution of the rapist/murderer.
Fortunately, most folks really do know the difference.