Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 7 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 25 years, 9 months ago by
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Why do so-called Christian societies favor the death penalty when the First Commandment states that ‘Thou shalt not kill’? Surely this prerogative lies with our Lord and no one else?
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Name : Jeff H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 47, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,My understanding is that the correct translation is ‘Thou shalt not murder,’ which presumes a personal vendetta, and would not preclude the state’s right to exercise the death penalty.
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Name : Bonnie, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 34, City : San Juan Capistrano, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : self employed, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,The fifth commandment is the commandment saying ‘Thou shalt not kill’. Meaning we should not take innocent life, or our own lives. God doesn’t want us to take anyone’s life, but there are acceptable situations. War, self-defense, and capitol punishment are included in this. The Bible says in Genesis 9:6 ‘Whoso sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man.’ God takes human life very seriously and the punishment for taking another innocent life is to sacrifice your own. In Romans 13:4 we are told to obey our government and that the govt. has the right to inflict the death penalty. There are of course many Christians who oppose the death penalty and speak out against it. Whether one agrees with it or not I think it’s clear that God finds it acceptable for murder.
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Name : Peter30387, Gender : M, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 46, City : Appleton, State : MN, Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,Jeff, The official Catholic position is against the death penalty. I’m not sure why you’re assuming Christians are for it.
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Name : Mike, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 41, City : Fort Worth, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The actual commandment states ‘thou shalt not murder.’ It appears from the Bible that ultimate value is place on innocent life, thus the ultimate price someone can pay for a crime is their life – the most valuable thing you posses. If you take that from someone, the equitable price to pay is with your own life. It is interesting, the first command given to Noah after the flood as reported in the Bible was ‘if man sheds blood (murders), then by man his blood must be shed.’ That is where the principle comes from that those in authority need to administer equitable justice – those that ‘murder’ must be ‘killed.’ It is key to define those terms, they’re not interchangable. Jesus later stated that indiviual believers must forgive, but he never vetoed any part of the law of Moses, he did fulfilled some, but that’s another discussion.
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Name : Will-S, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Burbank, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College,As a Missouri Synod Lutheran, I have been taught through Bible study that we Christians live under two laws – Biblical and civil – and we must obey and suffer the consequences for breaking each kind. If the civil law penalty for breaking a certain law is death, then we, as law-abiding citizens, must expect to suffer that consequence for breaking that law.
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Name : sgthotc, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 57, City : La Crescenta, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Accountant, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,This is tough for anyone who thinks it over thouroughly. There are a few points that outline my beliefs. 1. Literally translated from the original Hebrew, the commandment is more correct as Thou shalt not Murder. Killing for personal gain or passion or a host of other reasons is always wrong. 2. If my failure to kill a murderer causes an innocent’s death, I would hold myself responsible for that innocent’s death. I would have committed murder by inaction. 3. As the wife of a police officer, I have heard and seen people I could not shake the belief that they were just too dangerous to others to live. I would prefer incarceration to the death penalty, to give a chance to those wronged by the justice system. However some criminals have scared me so badly, I believe that incarceration is too mild to protect society. (Interestingly enough, both of the really scary ones were white, so I don’t think any racial bias influenced me on the choice of penalty I would impose.)
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Name : Debbie25776, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Programmer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,First, let me point out that the First Commandment (of the Ten) is not ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ But even if it was, if you look at the law of Moses (of which the Ten Commandments are a part), the penalty for killing (and other severe sins) was death. So a more accurate rendering of the meaning of the commandment is ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ It is not a blanket prohibition on any killing (which some interpret to cover the killing of animals as well–an impossible stretch, considering that animal sacrifice was also part of the law of Moses). My personal belief is that imposing the death penalty for murder shows great value of the sancity of life–someone who commits the ultimate crime should pay the ultimate penalty.
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Name : Eric Stone, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Mormon, Age : 32, City : Orem, State : UT, Country : United States, Occupation : webmaster, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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