There are five reasons that criminals are punished, deterrence, in which the judge gives a harsh punishment to one offender in order to deter other people from committing the same crime. Protection, where the judge sentences the offender to imprisonment as he feels the streets is not safe while they are free. Reform is where the offender is taught why he or she has committed wrong, and taught the right way to live their life. Retribution is where the families and friends of the victim seek revenge over the offender. Vindication is where justice is granted for the crime they have committed. Christians have a hard time balancing punishment with forgiveness, as it is often hard to forgive someone when all you want is for them to suffer for what they have done to you. One example of how a Christian managed to forgive the killer of his son was the Manchester policeman Stephen Oake. His father was quoted in saying “I am praying hard for the fellow who stabbed Steve. I am trying hard to forgive him as I am sure Steve would…I don’t want any recriminations against him at all”
For my serious crime, I have chosen child abuse. I feel that this crime is one of the most awful crimes a person could commit. The turmoil of that event could damage the child’s mind for life, and the chances of the child recovering are very poor. As a Christian we should look at this crime and try to forgive. Although it is hard to understand why someone would commit this crime, as Christians we should try to reform the offender and teach them that what they have done is wrong.
In the Old Testament we were taught “An Eye for An Eye”, that we should do unto people what they have done to us. Jesus overturned these views, which we are told in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus said that we should forgive people 90*9 times. He told us that no matter how angry we are with people, we should not focus on the punishment aspect, but try to forgive people who have hurt us. We are also taught again in the story of the forgiving father. The story tells us how we should be rehabilitated. The criminal should be encouraged to Confess about what they have done, and only then will they be forgiven.
I believe that it is hard to forgive people who have committed crimes against us, and even as Christians if we have been hurt, we find it difficult to find in our hearts, the courage to forgive people. However if we listen tot the teachings of Jesus, it does become easier to come to terms with what has happened.
AO3
Human people are flawed; therefore it is hardly surprising that we do bad things. Christians believe that we are all born with original sin, and we are baptised in order to abolish this sin. From the moment we are born we are imperfect; hence we cannot be expected to be faultless. In many countries, there is a strong connection between the law of the land and the law of the church. In these countries, religion is taken very seriously, and the leaders of the country agree that the law of the church, sets examples for the law of the land.
There are many types of punishment, which are usually given in accordance to the crime that has been committed. The punishment which are people are most familiar with is imprisonment, which involves the criminal being locked away from the world, in order to stop them from committing more crimes. However there are other types of punishment such as community service in which the criminal spends hours giving back to the community by doing tasks such as gardening. There are also fines, attendance centres and rehabilitation.
As you can see from the list above, Prison is not always necessary. If you lock somebody away, they have little chance of learning why they have done wrong.
I feel that crime and punishment are something that every society will have to deal with. I feel it is wrong that people can be imprisoned for petty crimes such as vandalising, when drink drivers and murderers are walking the streets daily. The justice system in Britain is wrong, as when a person is released from prison, they are not allowed to associate with any known criminal, which is what they have been doing for the duration of their punishment. As a Christian I believe that all people should be given a chance to show that they can do right. We should try to rehabilitate people who commit crimes such as rape and murder, so they know how to lead a normal life, instead of locking them up and forgetting about them. However crimes need to be dealt with, so a balance needs to be found between justice and human revenge.