Hurricane Hits England.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

RE Coursework (2) Amais Chouhdary 11GD2

Amais Chouhdary

Broad Street

Cardiff

CF5- 3NT

The Editor 19/02/2005

Western Mail

Cardiff

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am a Christian and would like to make clear a few points regarding the issue of Death Penalty, Which is quite often debated. I feel very strongly about this issue because if there was no death penalty than my faith and that of 120 million Christians wouldn’t exist. Because, if the Jews had never had the death penalty then Jesus wouldn’t be crucified and be resurrected and there would be no salvation through Christ.

Firstly, I would like to draw attention to the historical fact that the capital punishment has been used by almost every church and denomination. For example the burning of the heretics across Europe in the Medieval times, which was whole heartedly supported by the churches. Also the punishment of the Joan of Arc of France, because she claimed to be divinely inspired, was not opposed by the Churches.

I think that the churches never opposed the Death Penalty because no unequivocal statement in the New Testament forbids it. On the contrary, it is explicitly allowed in the Old ...

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I think that the churches never opposed the Death Penalty because no unequivocal statement in the New Testament forbids it. On the contrary, it is explicitly allowed in the Old Testament (an eye for an eye…life for a life) as was the custom of the Jews at the time of Jesus.

The Old Testament portrays human life as sacred because “God created man in his own image.” It’s only because of this sanctity of human life that the Old Testament urges the authorities to take strict measures against those who devalue it. (I.e. murderers rapists etc)

Jesus said: “Love your enemies” If you love someone you may need to punish them for their own good. For example the parents punish their children not because they hate them but because they love them and want to discipline them for their own good. Similarly the death penalty also disciplines the criminals and helps to keep the whole community safe.

The death penalty sends the criminals to God and he can deal with them the best way possible. If they were guilty, then God will not punish them again because they would have already paid for it in this world and God will send them straight to heaven. ☺

Jesus’ teachings illustrate an Ideal world, where we can be kind and “turn the other cheek” In the real world we cannot always be kind and gentle because the ‘evil’ people might start taking advantage and start abusing the ‘innocent’ people. We might be faced with serious problems, such as murder, rape and child abuse, so that we can’t be soft and have to put people to death.

I hoe that you raise my concerns in you paper so that people can be informed of the reality.