[MineralMan]

"Then what of Romans 13:4 and Revelation 13:10?

"But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for [the state] beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil."

"... he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword...""

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My friend, my ethics are not biblically-based. If you'll note my tagline, you'll see that I am an atheist. I don't use any scripture to justify my personal beliefs and ethics.

[Avenger]

"My friend, my ethics are not biblically-based. If you'll note my tagline, you'll see that I am an atheist. I don't use any scripture to justify my personal beliefs and ethics."

Well, I am sad to say that you will be spending an eternity in ETERNAL HELL-FIRE!!! Ok, just joking. Seriously, why are you an atheist rather than an agnostic? Since it is impossible to scientifically prove the non-existence of a god it seems to me that agnosticism is the most rational position.

[conservative physics]

Actually there is no need to argue the point biblically, pure logic will do.

Society either has the right and obligation to punish wrongdoer's or it doesn't. If it doesn't have that right, then you are arguing for anarchy, since if disobeying the law has no consequence then there is no law.

If society has that right, it also has the right to determine the type of punishment dealt out for any particular offense up to and including the ultimate punishment.

[Tree of Liberty]

My mistake. I thought by saying that your ethics weren't bound by the Old Testament, you were arguing that only the New Testament matters.