As a convicted felon who continues to work in prison/jail ministry, and also speaks in schools as well as Christian venues I offer these thoughts:

The definition of capital punishment behind the walls...thems that gots the capital don't get the punishment.

As a prolife follower of Christ, I would, oxymoronically to many, would be pro-death penalty if it was equitable and across the board. In other words, kill someone other than self-defense...die. A sixteen year old on prom night proves what a man he is by kicking back a six pack, driving home skips across the center divider, slams into a car, kills one or more people though he survives...case one. Case two, a 30 year old black junkie kills a clerk in the commission of hitting  a Stop-n-Rob; case three a 43 year old white businessman returns home a day early to surprise his wife...he does, she's in bed with the next door neighbor, husband goes berserk and kills one or both of them. If they are all arrested, tried, convicted, and fried I could support the death penalty. But the 16 year old would probably have all charges dropped, or plead out to vehicular homicide at the most; the black guy would die, the white would get off lightly. Not good.

Is the death penalty a deterent to crime? Probably not, as statistics indicate. The majority of non-drug related murders are crimes of passion; no thought of being caught much less punishment.

You also mention rehabililtation. One can not be rehabilitated if one does not want to be rehabilitated. Further, the worst of the many things wrong with the American prison system is they program you to fail...when I checked into the joint they gave me a battery of tests and interviews and said the reason I was a dealer, thief etc was because of the bad attitude I had toward America because of my tour of duty in Vietnam. What have the idiots done? They've provided me  a way to utter the worst obscenity in America - "It's not my fault!"

Does a man who murders another man have the right to life? The right to life? No, I don't think so, we should be punished for the choices we make, plus as far as I'm concerned, when you take a life, you forfeit your right to live as well.- Just my opinion.

What is the proper purpose of the Death Penalty? The purpose is probably to rid society of a sick demented psycho.

Is there a danger in having the Death Penalty? Yes, but very little

If so what is it? An innocent poor man could end up w/ a crummy attorney. Or maybe a crooked attorney sold out it's client...lots of dif scenarios.

How do we assure that an innocent man is not murdered?DNA and evidence.
   
Should the U.S. use the Death Penalty on mentally retared people? * Only if they can prove the person knew what they were doing!

What about rehabilitation? As far as child molesters...I do NOT believe in rehab for them, they do not get death, but I think the government should consider it! Do you know anything about the Shasta Groening Story? I urge you to check it out: Shasta Link Guys like this should get death.

Should the U.S. even have authority to use the Death Penalty? YES. I believe some crimes deserve death.

ryc: Joyce Gracie, one of the greatest fighters of our time, a truly good man from a good family.

Hello, thank you for commenting on my site and making me take notice of you!^^  I've been looking through your blog entries.  They're very thought-provoking, I will definately subscribe!

Okay...about the death penalty.  I have mixed feelings about it because it can be looked at from so many different angles.  It's so complicated...I'll just go through your questions as best I can.  Please forgive me if I respond to some of them with my own questions, but I'm not so arrogant as to think that I have the answers to everything.....

1) As people, how can we justify whether or not another human being has the "right" to live?  I don't think I or anyone else has the right to decide if another person "deserves" to live.

2) I think the purpose of the death penalty SHOULD be to keep more people from being hurt/killed.  Like if a serial killer is exicuted so he/she can't hurt any other people. 

But what about situations where someone murders someone else, but would never kill again?  When this person gets the death penalty, is it to punish him/her?  To make the victim's family more at ease?  If the person poses no further risk to society, is his/her death sentence justified?

3/4) I believe there is.  If person A kills person B for whatever reason, then person C kills person A for killing person B, then person D kills person C for killing person A......where does this meaningless cycle of violence end?

5) Innocense is in the eye of the beholder.  As lame as that might sound, it's true.  In some cultures, if a man abuses his wife for cheating on him he's respected; in another he might get arrested.  Even Hitler probably thought of himself as doing the "right" thing.  In his mind killing people by the thousands wasn't a bad thing, even though we, of course, see it as monstrous.

6) Of course not!  I understand that if a mentally retarded person is a danger to other people, something must be done about it.  I don't think killing him/her for something he/she doesn't understand or can't control is "justice".

But couldn't we also question whether a mentally retarded person should be suffered to live?  Like you were saying about aborted child, is it better to let them die and maybe go to a better afterlife than it is to make them live in misery?

7) Rehabilitation that works 100% of the time would be ideal.  I doubt we're ever going to have that, unfortunately.   Besides,  even if someone is "rehabilitated"...are you gonna feel comfortable living next door to such a person?  Maybe have a former rapist as a neighbor?  Let him babysit your kids?

8) No! The U.S. Government can't handle smaller issues, like how to organize speedy disaster(hurrican) relief!  Why should they be allowed to decide who should live and who shouldn't?  Besides, as I said earlier, I don't think anyone has the right to decide who "deserves" to live or die.

I hope all that gibberish forms some type of coherant thought.  Get back to me sometime and tell me if it did! ^_^

oh, god.

some of these answers scare the hell out of me.

Does a man who murders another man have the right to life?  we all have a god-given right to life.  god gives us life; only she should be able to take it away.

What is the proper purpose of the Death Penalty?  there is no "proper purpose" to the death penalty.  the death penalty is used in our culture purely for vengeance.  there is no "justice" - evidenced by the fact that the poor are executed far more often than the well-off, people of color are executed ten times more often than whites, and statistics show that states who use the death penalty have a higher crime rate than those who do not, thereby eliminating the possibility that the death penalty is a deterrent.  (countries with no death penalty have much lower crime rates than those with the death penalty, as well).

Is there a danger in having the Death Penalty? If so what is it?
there is grave danger in even having the death penalty as an option.  one obvious danger is that innocent people will be executed.  they are often.  other dangers include the potential abuse of power (cop, judge, attorney, rich vengeful relatives working the system), the inequity in the justice system, and most important, the removal of the potential for repentance.

How do we assure that an innocent man is not murdered?  the only way we can assure an innocent person never dies via the death penalty is to get rid of the death penalty. 

Should the U.S. use the Death Penalty on mentally retared people?
the u.s. should NOT execute mentally retarded people, but it does.  the u.s. should NOT execute minors, but until just this year we did.  we are in good company in who we will execute.  the only other countries who will execute minors or the mentally retarded are pakistan, iraq, iran and china.  god bless america!  currentlyconfusedcreature is crazy... why don't we just kill off the mentally retarded?  why don't we kill off all the idiots?  that would come soon after, you know.  slippery slope...

in addition, mentally retarded people and minors are more likely to give police false confessions, their brains are not fully developed (and in the case of the mentally retarded, WILL NOT develop fully), and they are unable to adequately assist in their own defense, a supposed requirement for prosecution in this country.

What about rehabilitation?
prisons don't even pretend rehabilitation.  what about distributive justice?  case in point.  a man drives drunk and kills a young girl.  as part of his punishment the man must write a check for one dollar every single friday and mail it to the girl's parents... a constant reminder to him of the hazards of drinking and driving.  he has asked that this part of his punishment be rescinded, without luck.

Should the U.S. even have authority to use the Death Penalty?  no government has the right to execute its people.  god gives, god takes away.  but if a government DID have the right, the u.s. would be so low on the list because we kill indiscriminately...in wars that have no basis, in covert operations to benefit us purely financially, in prisons where we hold "suspected insurgents," and in abortion clinics. 

sinnfein up there scared me the most.  saying we have the best legal system in the world...yeah, if you are rich and white.  and saying "officials" have the right to execute.  saddaam hussein was an "official."  hitler was an "official."

Is there a danger in having the Death Penalty?

Yes.  If everyone is guilty of a capital crime then everyone must die.

Death Penalty???  Shouldn't it be called the Unlimited Appeals Penalty???  If you're going to make a law about executing people, then it should be followed or abolished. 

If we actually HAD a Death Penalty in this country, then maybe I would comment about it.

As far as rehabillitation(sp), someone said that it's up to the person being rehabillitated to change themselves.  If someone doesn't want to change their views about the world, then they're not going to.  They might pretend, or temporarily "try out" some new morals, but without a desire to actually better themselves, they will eventually just slip back into the ol' groove.

ps
Why aren't people sentenced to life without parole executed???  I guess that's cold, but dang.  There's not THAT much difference.

thank you! it went really well  :)

not going to answer all those questions. i'm too tired

OK so here are the answers to your questions, respectively:

No; Retribution; No; N/A; We don't assure it; Yes; Don't believe in it; Yes

There is my expert opinion....oh wait....

(gasps in horror) YOU WANT ME TO SUPPORT MY ANSWERS?!?! How do you expect me to do that!!!! Such large demands...i give up...

Does a man who murders another man have the right to life?

This is a faulty question - none of us (since we are all sinners by nature) have a "right to life."

What is the proper purpose of the Death Penalty?

I've heard 2 reasons.  1.) Because the OT commands it (which is a loaded discussion).  2.) It is a crime detterant (which is not really true statistically speaking).

Is there a danger in having the Death Penalty?

Of course!!!

If so what is it?

Nothing displeases God more than the injustice that goes on towards the weak and helpless.  The very nature of it attempts to give justice (which at times seems more like revenge) to people who commit acts of severe crime.  Revenge is not a option for the Christian to pursue in regards to remedies against others.

How do we assure that an innocent man is not murdered?

By abolishing the death penalty. *gasp*

Should the U.S. use the Death Penalty on mentally retared people?

No.  They should be punished for the crimes they commit but their circumstances should be taken into consideration.

What about rehabilitation?

Chuck Colson has a solid prison ministry towards that very goal.  Rehabilitation will not be easy (nothing worth doing is easy) but it's possible.  The foulest of sinners can be made clean.  It's a precious Christian truth that needs to be believed by the Christian community.  If we really believed this maybe we would take more risks towards ministry towards these hardended and broken individuals.

Should the U.S. even have authority to use the Death Penalty?

see above.

There are several reasons that the US has the death penalty, and most of them seem to come from philosophical basis.

1) Utilitarian. To promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Those who support the death penalty  say that killing a criminal prevents them from harming society because, well duh, they are dead. Another facet of the ultiliarian argument is that killing the murderer may bring about some good for the victims family, mainly "closure." The utilitarian construct says that it is more important to promote the good of the victims family members because they are family to the innocent victim, but there are other things which have to be take into consideration when performing the utilitarian calculus. I won't go into all of the factors now because I am sure I am boring you.

2) The concept of jus talionus (not sure of the spelling), translated to mean "the right of retaliation". People who argue from this perspective say that when a crime has been done the balance of the scales of justice is distrupted and must be righted. In order to right the wrong of a murder the murderer himself must be killed, they say. There problems with this arguement as well, but I am in a rush to go to class so I can't elaborate right now.

Those are two arguments that most people make when supporting the death penalty, but let me just quickly answer some of your other questions (eventhough I am sure that they have been covered by others).

1. Yes. The man who murders has the right to life, mostly because we as people or as governments have no right to take his life. As a Christian I believe that life is an inherent good. We cannot ourselves comitt an evil to someone who has committed and evil to bring about a good. As mother teresa said "all people are worth more than the worst thing they have ever done." Plus Jesus hung out with all sorts of disenfranchised people, and even pardoned the other men condemned to die be side him--shouldn't we show the same mercy? I am not saying that prisons don't have a place in our society, but the death penalty certainly doesn't. Why kill a person to show that killing is wrong, and why kill them when we can keep ourselves just as safe by locking them in prison for the rest of their natural life?

2. There are several dangers in having the death penalty. 1) that it has killed the innocent and we probably all agree that this is wrong. 2) the abuses that it allows the government. The death penalty is race, gender, class, and geographically biased. Plus when we give the government this kind of power, well I don't know it just scares me. 3) the de-civilizing factor. When we kill other people we sink to their level and allow them to decide our actions. We become just as barbaric as we have judged them to be.

3. The only way to ensure that innocents will not be killed is to abolish the death penalty. If you want to read further on this topic please read Sister Helen Prejean's book, The Death of Innocents.

4. Of course we shouldn't kill the mentally retarded. The Supreme Court has already ruled on this matter. Now we should be asking whether we should kill the mentally ill--my answer is still no, but I don't have time to go into it now.

I have to go to my Moral Philosophy class. I can recommend some books if you'd like to read further on this topic.

I have always personally believed very strongly in the tenets of democracy. Independent of the fact that capital punihment has statistically never been a deterrent to crime or that innocent people will inevitably die as a result of its implementation, I oppose the death penalty because it is a threat to the very democracy that we cherish. If we, as citizens of a democracy, oppose the killing of others, then it is illogical to allow our government to kill others in our name. To suggest that the death penalty be a means of punishment or retribution, even if used rarely, is to suggest that the whole dynamic of our governmental system change, and that I oppose wholeheartedly. Because I would oppose my killing someone, I must oppose my representatives killing someone on my behalf, as that is, in fact, the very purpose of this representative democracy.

dude, how do u post on blogrings?

Bubba

Hmm-- tell me, do you have a xanga where you don't start arguments?