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[johnmason]

I suspect that I'm in the minority on the pros and cons of the Death Penalty but I hope that my reasoning will make sense to most of you.

I don't believe that there should be any death penalty for any crime. It's not that I have any religious reasons or that I feel any sympathy for those criminals that commit horrendous crimes

I just think that when looking at history, it's a huge mistake to allow a government to put anyone to death. It's a method that's been used over and over again throughout history by tyrants to eliminate their opposition When I say that to people I often get told, "But the U.S. is a Democracy so that can't happen here". How soon we forget that Nazi Germany evolved from a Democracy President Nixon used U.S. law to go after his enemies using the IRS so why not a future President declaring martial law, suspending juries, and issuing death sentences. I'm not saying that I believe that's likely, just possible. I don't believe that any future President would enslave anyone either but I see the value in laws that absolutely prohibit that

So I fully understand the emotions that cause people to want the criminal who kidnapped and killed their 8-year-old daughter to get the death penalty. Hell, I would like to kill that guy myself. But as a society we should look at the bigger picture and the bigger good.

While eliminating the death penalty wouldn't guarantee that no future government would kill their enemies, it would put one more obstacle in the way. Along with Miranda laws, the right to an attorney, and the right to a jury, a ban on the death penalty is a smart move in my book

[freespirit]

Well before someone says that God said, "Thou shall not kill" be aware that there's nothing in the Bible that talks against putting criminals to death.

The commandment is more correctly translated to, "You shall not murder".

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines murder as, "the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought".

Since criminal executions are done legally, the government is not murdering anyone so God should have no problem with that.

Of course, as johnmason pointed out, by that reasoning God would also have no problem with Nazi executions since they were technically legal.

Ok, now my head's starting to hurt thinking about that! Bye!