The Death Penalty and Christian Ethics
The death penalty is not one of those topics that is frequently brought up or thought about through the course of daily life for me, as I would assume for anyone not being sentenced to it. Even though it may not be thought about for the average individual, the ethics behind it are still in question especially concerning the correct use of it in the American legal system. The legal system is not perfect, and many flaws end up condemning individuals to long sentences. Because of this the death penalty can be even more controversial – even more so when an innocent man or woman is sentenced to death. Christian ethics does not support the use of the death penalty and I stand beside that.
In America, capital punishment can be traced back to colonial times and for other places such as Europe even earlier. Our great ancestors thought that the death penalty was essential to use to hopefully eradicate the extreme amounts of violence and crime. When looking at the
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The Sixth Commandment is “Thou shall not kill” and all of Jesus’ teaching were about loving everyone, even those who have done wrong. Religion holds a right relationship between God and his people. The teachings of Christianity and the life of Jesus preach for society to be not only follow scripture but above all else to love God and thy neighbor. An alternative to capital punishment would be deterrence punishment. This utilitarian approach argues for a punishment that will reform and rehabilitate the criminal all the while deterring others from committing the same crime. The monks also believed in the practice of using cells to have the wrongdoer reflect on their choices and eventually have a change of heart. Christianity and the teaching’s of Jesus are all about the power of forgiveness and being the bigger personal through the strength of