Capital Punishment - "God gives life and only god can take it away".

I will give reasons for my answer showing that I have thought of more than one point of view.

Capital punishment is the execution for a crime. There are lots of ways to execute people. Nowadays the only types of execution include gassing, the electric chair, lethal injection, firing squad and hanging. In our society we do not use capital punishment as it was permanently abolished in 1970 after a five-year trial. But in some countries it is still in use. Some people believe that it should be brought back to deter and to take revenge on the criminals.

The theory of deterrence for capital punishment in some people's eyes should be brought back as it would deter the criminals and others from committing a crime. Those in favour of harsher punishments usually argue that it should be brought back because in their eyes if some one does something wrong then they should receive a punishment fitting for the crime they have committed.

The arguments for bringing it back can be fully debated. One argument is that it puts off potential murders as in the theory of deterrence. Some say that capital punishment protects civilians and police from violence. People against the cause say why don't they just be put in jail? The argument for is heavily weighted because they can say that after they have served their prison sentence they will be let out again and therefore be a threat to society again and re-commit more crimes. So if they are put to death then they will not be able to re-offend and be a threat to society any more.

Another argument for the bringing back of capital punishment is that it has been in existence since the beginning of time- so why stop doing it now? It can be traced back to thousands of years before Jesus' time and proved to be useful.

At the moment as there is no death penalty the next thing down is a life prison sentence. This so-called "life sentence" is imprisonment not for life but for only about 25-30 years. In the eyes of some people, if the crime they have committed is severe enough and they get a life sentence then they believe that it's the easy way out and is not punishment enough. Some supporters for the cause have views on how much a crime is worthy enough for death. Murder or attempted murder should be punished by death and with constant petty crime, it should also be considered.

Capital punishment adequately expresses societies total abhorrence of murder or crimes of equal disgust. Capital punishment if it were in use shows in reality the way society thinks about people that commit such crimes and how these crimes will not be tolerated.

One of human natures natural reactions is revenge. Therefore it is only natural that if a crime of some magnitude is committed that it be retaliated in an act of revenge. In this case it is the death penalty. As it is no longer in use, society cannot take its revenge out on the criminals and cannot get their own back. One type of crime that is very strongly felt should be punished by death, is terrorist activities. Terrorism over the last 50 years has been responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. Terrorists do this to put a political view across and to make sure that their view is heard, but why could they not just use diplomatic methods? Surely it would be easier than putting whole communities at risk. As people for the cause believe that these people are a huge risk to society, their view is that these terrorists should be expelled permanently by the death penalty.

Some people for the case of capital punishment believe that the law should be based on the idea of "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." In simple terms what you do wrong should be done back to you. E.g. if you kill someone, you should be killed also.

This isn't necessarily true as in some peoples eyes capital punishment should be for a fitting crime like in the punishment of Achan (Joshua 7:20-26). In this story it tells of how Achan stole 2 kg of silver, 1/2 kg of gold and a beautiful Babylonian cloak. Achan confessed and Joshua and the Israelites took him and all of his family and possessions to trouble valley where they were stoned to death and burnt his possessions. Once this was done the lord was no longer furious.

This shows that God allows and supports the death penalty. It proves that it should be allowed and be brought back as a punishment or to simply protect society.

In 1975 the British government ruled that only certain types of crime were punishable by the Gallows. These offences were killing police officers, using guns or explosives, killing two or more people and killing during a robbery. In 1965 after many debates capital punishment was suspended for a 5-year trial period. In 1970 it was permanently abolished. One of the debated reasons was because of the way the law condemns murder, but then goes on to murder in the name of the law. Punishing murder by murder is not right. That's one reason against the case of capital punishment. Another reason why some people are against the thought of bringing it back is because of the role terrorism plays in our society. If a terrorist were caught and punished by death then it would turn the convicted criminal into a martyr. This is not right making these political extremists into martyrs. Surely it would be better to imprison these people and at the same time keep them out of societies way.

A life sentence is another option instead of the death penalty. In the state of Texas in the USA where the death penalty is still carried out, it costs on average $2.3m to prosecute and execute convicted criminals each year, whereas it costs only $400,000 for life imprisonment. This is a massive saving, which could help the surrounding communities fund for things that are needed.

* It has been statistically proved 80% of murders are not pre-meditated. This means that 80% of murders are not planned but are spur of the moment accidents. It would then seem extremely unfair to punish the murder by death. This still doesn't take away the fact that it is still murder. The murder should be punished but not quiet as severely as death. A lot of people believe that capital punishment would be the easy way out and they would be escaping a real punishment. So killing the offender would be like letting them off, which isn't the aim of punishment. The aim of punishment is to either deter, protect, reform or to take revenge (retribution). The theory of reformation is an effective punishment that includes an attempt to reform the criminal (make them see they have done wrong and turn their ways). This aim of punishment is one that is implied to young offenders to help them turn away from crime. Capital punishment makes a complete mockery of this theory. It doesn't give the offender a choice to right the wrong that they have done previously. Rather than kill the so-called murderer, we should begin to study their motives and the pressures society has put them under. This would help us in reforming them.

One of the uses of capital punishment is to deter other criminals from committing more crimes. This doesn't necessarily deter. Some speakers of England's general synod of the Anglican Church backed this view in 1983. They made the following points: 1. God is merciful and man shares in God's merciful nature. 2. The taking of a life as a death penalty devalues human life. 3. There is substantial doubt that capital punishment has any significant deterrent effect. 4. The abolition of capital punishment gave prison chaplains a chance to work for the reform of all prisoners rather than just some of them.

In point 2 it says that capital punishment devalues human life. Some people believe that all life is sacred and questions society on the right it has to end it. There are several biblical teachings that back this view up like Jesus' teaching about revenge.

This teaching tells us to be generous. If someone does something to offend you, you should forgive him or her. Another biblical reading that backs up the view against capital punishment is "A woman caught in adultery".

In this teaching Jesus didn't condemn the woman he forgave her. This shows that humans are able to forgive others. By learning what this teaching means and relating to capital punishment, we can try and follow Jesus' example by forgiving. If someone commits a crime then we should try and forgive him or her and punish them accordingly.

Lots of different people have lots of different views on capital punishment. Some people believe that if it were in today's society it would act as a deterrent. But then people against the cause would say that there is no substantial proof to back this up. It could be used as a deterrent but would it work? Other people would say that instead of trying to rid them of society forever we should reform them and help them so they can help society. That point could also be argued, as you cannot necessarily guarantee the reformation of every criminal. Some might be mentally unstable and there would be no way in which you could help them immediately. I believe that capital punishment should be brought back but only used in certain cases like the Pope said in his statement:

" Execution should only be used in cases of absolute necessity, and when society is put danger and would not be able to defend itself otherwise".

This is the view I have and I also believe that 'life imprisonment' should mean life imprisonment, not just 25-30 years. This should be used more than the death penalty, as it is a fairer punishment, which also allows reformation to take place as well as retribution and protection. I believe as it has already been proved that neither punishment works as a deterrent, they should be punished for the first three reasons. I believe deterrence does not work.