Capital Punishment: Against

Capital Punishment: Against


     The use of capital punishment has been a permanent fixture in society since

the earliest civilizations and continues to be used as a form of punishment in

countries today.  It has been used for various crimes ranging from the desertion

of soldiers during wartime to the more heinous crimes of serial killers.

However, the mere fact that this brutal form of punishment and revenge has been

the policy of many nations in the past does not subsequently warrant its

implementation in today's society.  The death penalty is morally and socially

unethical, should be construed as cruel and unusual punishment since it is both

discriminatory and arbitrary, has no proof of acting as a deterrent, and risks

the atrocious and unacceptable injustice of executing innocent people.  As long

as capital punishment exists in our society it will continue to spark the

injustice which it has failed to curb.

     Capital punishment is immoral and unethical.  It does not matter who

does the killing because when a life is taken by another it is always wrong.  By

killing a human being the state lessens the value of life and actually

contributes to the growing sentiment in today's society that certain individuals

are worth more than others.  When the value of life is lessened under certain

circumstances such as the life of a murderer, what is stopping others from

creating their own circumstances for the value of one's life such as race, class,

religion, and economics.  Immanual Kant, a great philosopher of ethics, came up

with the Categorical Imperative, which is a universal command or rule that

states that society and individuals "must act in such a way that you can will

that your actions become a universal law for all to follow" (Palmer 265).  There

must be some set of moral and ethical standards that even the government can not

supersede, otherwise how can the state expect its citizens not to follow its own

example.

     Those who support the death penalty believe, or claim to believe, that

capital punishment is morally and ethically acceptable.  The bulk of their

evidence comes from the Old Testament which actually recommends the use of

capital punishment for a number of crimes.  Others also quote the Sixth

Commandment which, in the original Hebrew reads, "Thou Shall Not Commit Murder."

However, these literal interpretations of selected passages from the Bible which

are often quoted out of context corrupt the compassionate attitude of Judaism

and Christianity, which clearly focuses on redemption and forgiveness, and urges

humane and effective ways of dealing with crime and violence.  Those who use the

Bible to support the death penalty are by themselves since almost all religious

groups in the United States regard executions as immoral.  They include,

American Baptist Churches USA, American Jewish Congress, California Catholic

Council, Christian reformed Church, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church in America,

Mennonite General Conference, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA,

Northern Ecumenical Council, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church of

America, Southern California Ecumenical Council, Unitarian/Universalist

Association, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church (Death

Penalty Focus).

     Those that argue that the death penalty is ethical state that former

great leaders and thinkers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin

Franklin, Kant, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Mill all supported it

(Koch 324).  However, Washington and Jefferson, two former presidents and

admired men, both supported slavery as well.  Surely, the advice of someone who

clearly demonstrated a total disregard for the value of human life cannot be

considered in such an argument as capital punishment.  In regard to the

philosophers, Immanuel Kant, a great ethical philosopher stated that the motives

behind actions determine whether something is moral or immoral (Palmer 271).

The motives behind the death penalty, which revolve around revenge 
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