One thing I have been taught since I was a child is that two wrongs do not make a right. This is how I formed my opinion on capital punishment. An eye for an eye is not the correct way to handle a situation. It just turns into a vicious cycle. Let me give you an example. My friend gets into an argument with someone. The fight turns physical. One wrong punch, and it's lights out. My friend dies. Seeking revenge, I find the bastard that did this to my friend, and kill him. An eye for an eye. Now his friends are mad at me, and I'm the newest target. And the cycle begins. It's possible that some may not consider this capital punishment, but it is. Killing someone for killing somone is capital punishment - and it's wrong.
In my blog postings, I would like to persuade my readers that the death penalty is not the answer. I will discuss several factors in determining my opinion on this matter. I will cover the costs of a capital murder case, the murder statistics in death penalty and non death penalty states, race as a factor in determining who gets a death sentence and who does not, and the possibility for error.
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It's amazing the difference in opinion here. You grew up thinking that if a person committed a crime they should be given another chance, whereas I grew up believing that if the crime was murder (intentional) that, that person who committed the crime deserved a taste of their own medicine; I.e. the death penalty, interesting ways of growing up I'd say!
ReplyDeleteMy parents are both for the death penalty. They always taught me that violence was not the answer, however, I believe that we are creating more violence by punishing with violence. I would rather see someone in jail for life having to live with what they did. I know there are some that will never feel remorse, but I think most will have some sort of regret. I think, in my heart, that it is going against everything we are taught as children when we use violence as a punishment. I think it is quite hypocritical to teach us not to retaliate when capital punishment is the ultimate retaliation.
ReplyDeleteMahatma Ghandi said "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." I think that's what Heidi is getting at and I agree. I firmly believe that we cannot teach peace with violence. We cannot deter murders with the threat of murder. The goal of the death penalty is morality and justice. It delves deeply into moral theory, but the contemplation of moral theory requires critical reasoning and rationale. Rationale that is emotionally unbiased. When someone murders someone we have a deep sense of violation, we are angry that someone would have the audacity to think they have the right to determaine who lives and who dies. We value human life as a society. We sympathize with the victims loved ones. Our moral judgement becomes clouded with emotion. "Critical reasoning demands that our beliefs be coherent, that they do not harbor contradictions." (Vaughn, 31). When we say killing is wrong, and if you do it you will be killed, we fall victim to irrationality. We wrap ourselves into contradictions that are not coherent with our moral judgements. The death penalty is an inherantly irrationale method of punishment.
ReplyDeleteSources Cited:
Vaughn, Lewis. Bioethics: Principles, Issues, and Cases. Oxford University Press. 2010.