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To: goldstategop
The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty and abortion. There is a congruence in their philosophical views on these issues and I don't see the problem with that, they are a religious institution and support the concept of life being sacrosanct. The Old Testament was "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", but Christ was/is the New Covenant.

That being said, the Church does not outlaw capital punishment per se, but you have to understand that the Church looks at everything through the prism of their being a religious institution, not a governmental body.

The title of the article is revolting, btw, just another example of Catholic bashing and ignorance.
15 posted on 11/20/2006 6:28:41 AM PST by khnyny (God Bless the Republic for which it stands)
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To: khnyny
There is NO congruence. The unborn are innocent who do not deserve to be deprived of life. On the other hand, murderers are evildoers, who by virtue of already having taken an innocent human life, deserve to have their own forfeit. There is both a moral and legal distinction. One the Church has always acknowledged but which for reasons which only it knows, the present day Establishment has chosen to overlook.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

17 posted on 11/20/2006 6:35:44 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: khnyny
but you have to understand that the Church looks at everything through the prism of their being a religious institution, not a governmental body.

Just another way of saying the Catholic church is blind. The church has different responsibilities than governments. The church shouldn't be circumventing the government in fullfilling it's responsibility to "execute wrath on him who practices evil. (Romans 13:4).

19 posted on 11/20/2006 6:54:45 AM PST by aimhigh
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To: khnyny
Agreed. Here is the Church's position on this from the Catechism:

Legitimate defense

2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not."

2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:

If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.

2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.

2266 The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people's rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party.

2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."

23 posted on 11/20/2006 7:32:03 AM PST by LisaFab
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To: khnyny
The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty and abortion.

This statement could be misleading. The Church still recognizes the right of the State to inflict the death penalty, in principle, in order to protect the public. But when it is possible for the State to imprison murderers for life without them representing a threat to society (such as in "supermax" prisons), the Church opposes the use of the death penalty. The Church has modified its position with regard to the death penalty in consideration of changing circumstances, but the Church has not changed its position in principle.

29 posted on 11/20/2006 8:20:39 AM PST by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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