Christian beliefs about the ways criminals shoud or should not be treated

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

GCSE RELIGIOUS STUDIES B (Philosophy and Ethics) 1931

Candidate Name: HARTZ richard

Topic 10 – Religion Peace and Justice

(a) Describe Christian beliefs about how criminals should and should not be treated. [24]

Christians are very specific in how criminals should and should not be treated; they give various reasons as to why they believe this. This is has been particularly relevant in recent times during the furore over treatment of people, by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay.

Firstly, Christians think that the primary function of punishment is to help criminals to reform themselves and make sure that they can fit back into society once they have paid back their ‘debt’. The punishment must also be fair, just and proportional to the crime that was committed. Christians believe that once this has happened any former criminal deserves to be pardoned by society. A relevant quotation from the Bible is “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” This is referring to the fact that Christians think that revenge is not to be encouraged; instead one should promote forgiveness and retribution.

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Another Christian belief about the way in which criminals should be treated is that they should also be shown respect. Therefore even though criminals have broken the laws of society, they should still be treated as a member of society and as equals, therefore they have the same right to food, drink, health, shelter, sanitation and exercise facilities. This relates to prison guards as well, as they form an integral part in the reformation of prisoners. Prison guards ought to be employed to look after the inmates and treat them with respect, by treating criminals badly; Christians believe that it is descending to their level. If someone has committed a particularly heinous crime such as mass-murder, most Christians think that they should be imprisoned for life. The reason for this is so that the rest of society is protected from them and it is also viewed as an acceptable punishment to meet a crime such as this. Some Christians even think that the only correct punishment for murder should be capital punishment, however this gives the criminal no chance to reform.

On the other hand however, Christians also believe that there are ways in which a criminal should not be treated. A good example of this is that deterrents are not to be used; this is because they are seen as not only unfair on the individual(s) but also because it is not treating someone as you would like to be treated; Jesus said “Do to others what you would have them do for you”. Furthermore it is a means to an end and in fact deterrents are also proven to be ineffective. As a result revenge is seen as wrong too, since it is not “turning the other cheek”. Another example of what Christians think shouldn’t happen to criminals is that no one should be imprisoned without a fair trial or indeed no trial at all. A good example of where this has happened in modern times is at Guantanamo Bay, a US Military base where they are keeping a number of people who they believe to be terrorists, yet they haven’t given them a fair trial to justify their imprisonment.

Christians also believe that it is not up to humans to judge others, that is God’s business. An example of this from the New Testament is when Jesus was asked what to do with an adulterous woman, rather than answering the question directly he said; “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”. This is a very important example of where Christians are taught to be forgiving and not judgemental. A further quotation from the Bible to support this belief is; “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and yet pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Here the term ‘brother’ refers to anyone; it is explaining how people should not be quick to accuse others without a sound reason.

Centre Number: 51201