[jambutty]

Originally Posted by Stanaccy

I agree we will have to agree to differ that is what makes debate on here excellent.

I did say however I was glad I didn't meet him and that vengeance would have been wrong. I am very pleased and if justice had had it's way I would have been happier. My statement on that was vengeance is wrong both for the victim and the offender.

However before the debate finishes I would like a few questions answered by those in favour of the death penalty.

1 How do christians in favour of the death penalty put it into context with the 10 commandments and Jesus's teachings of forgiveness?
2 How do you say sorry to a corpse if they have been wrongly convicted and executed?
3 Why do countries with a death penalty have a higher death per capita ratio than those without?
4 How you deter someone from killing again once they have committed the ultimate crime?


With regards to the you cannot have state sanctioned murder argument, murder is by your definition the premeditated killing of another human being, what then is passing the death sentence?

Whether you like it or not or are prepared to admit it, wanting a criminal punished for their crime is exacting vengeance on them. But instead of doing it ourselves we let the judicial system do it on our behalf.

Let me see if I have got this right. Christianity stemmed from Jesus who was the Son of God. God handed down the Ten Commandments to Moses one of which was the ‘thou shalt not kill’ bit. It also stated ‘thou shalt not steal’ ‘nor covet thy neighbour’s wife’. There’s an awful lot of stealing going on and coveting.

Yet according to the Old Testament this God parted the waters of the Red Sea to let the Israelites through then let the waters close on the thousands of Egyptian soldiers pursuing them and they drowned. This God didn’t do this just once he did it twice. This God killed the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah when they refused to change their licentious and incestuous ways. This God ordered the Israelites to attack and take Jericho by force, meaning that they killed all and sundry. Jericho was the first of many cities dealt with in this way. This God struck down all who opposed him or blasphemed him.

Oh! I get it! The God was a ‘do as I say’ not a ‘do as I do’ God.

For centuries Christians have raised armies and attacked and killed their enemies for no other reason than to gain land or to foist their beliefs onto others. The last notable Christian to have killed millions, albeit by proxy, was Adolph Hitler and I do believe that he was a Catholic.

2. The question is academic because we don’t have the death penalty in the UK.

3. I have no idea. Which countries are you referring to? Us and the US? Some statistics would be helpful to back up your claim.

4. Lock them up until their death or hang them.

It is not my definition but that of people far clever and more thoroughly versed in the English language than me.

The passing of the death sentence is an action by a judge in accordance with the law and is thus a legal action just as much as handing out 10 years clink. Murder by definition is not a legal action.