Pro-Life, Anti-Death Penalty?

America Magazine ^ | James R. Kelly and Christopher Kudlac

[Rockingham]

Wrong on almost every count. Joining opposition to the death penalty with opposition to abortion treats as equivalent the just and judicially sanctioned execution of guilty murderers with the killing of unborn children for the sake of private convenience.

Some people are utterly, completely beyond dispute guilty and deserving of death, having made deliberate choices to murder for their own benefit, profit, or lust. Yes, there really are knowing and deliberately evil people in the world, not just people who make ignorant and confused choices.

Some crimes call for the death penalty as the best justice that we can do. I can show you proven cases of: paroled murderers who murder again, saying that they are out to kill as many as they can before they are caught; killers for hire, with career scores in the dozens; killers who rape and torture children to death; killers who dedicate their torture murders to Satan; killers who abduct a teenager at random, torture him to death, then mail his family a tape of the killing.

Executing murderers saves lives through deterrence. Moreover, lifetime hard labor for the worst killers is cruelty and injustice to their victims and the friends and families of those victims.

Does putting a convicted killer to death really provide relief to the victims and their friends and family? I know someone who was a witness against Ted Bundy, having seen him flee just before she discovered two of her sorority sisters who had been brutally murdered by him. My friend's life was in turmoil for years after that, but the burden on her eased greatly when Bundy was finally executed, marking that chapter of her life as closed.

I know of an instance in which a friend of two murder victims (a respected judge and his wife) was astounded to be greeted on the street by one of their convicted killers, a crooked lawyer who had been quietly paroled through bribery or political influence but a few years later. What does that tell you about the value placed on human life?

There are indeed "government employees" who "would kill" by pulling the switch on convicted murderers. One prison administrator of my acquaintance told me that most prisoners in the general population supported the death penalty, especially for the killers of women and children. I have seen polling data to the same effect. Why? Criminals have families too and far fewer illusions than we do about what criminals are like.

Traditional Catholic thinking was that the death penalty was moral if confined to proper cases and administered by lawful authority. This was based squarely on the bible and many generations of Christian scholarship and moral reasoning. Current Catholic opinion against the death penalty seems more trendy and political than grounded in faith.

[jamesissmall218]

Exactly right. The death penalty can be okay as long as there is no other alternative, at least in my view and that of the Catholic Church. But for your run of the mill murderer, there is a clear alternative that really is better punishment - hell on earth. Manual labor, absolutely no comforts at all, and a lack of human interaction.

[alkaloid2]

You said torture 'em, not me. I don't know where you got that, to tell you the truth.

And it's "their life", not "there life".

Sorry, I'm a sucker for grammatical correctness.

tSG

[kidd]

You are a little more than insulting, whether you intended it or not. I never even came close to saying 'people should be killed for the overall good of society'. I in no way believe in euthanasia, nor did I imply it in any way shape or form.

I believe in the death penalty when the safety of everyone else is at risk. However, if someone who commits a horrible crime can be incarcerated effectively (without any reasonable chance of escape), then let him rot in a jail cell, which can be far worse than death.

[HungarianGypsy]

So if someone murders someone even if they had hard labor their family could still visit and write letters. As of right now they can get umpteen chaces at appeals. How many chances do their victims get?

[FormerLib]

Not a popular position to take around here but it's mine too.

That's because so many of the most vocal of the death penalty opponents blatantly display more sympathy for the criminals than the victims, I believe.

[kidd]

The argument that irks me the most is the racial argument ("the death penalty is racist"). I don't buy it for a minute, even though I'm generally against the death penalty.

[Graybeard58]

That's because so many of the most vocal of the death penalty opponents blatantly display more sympathy for the criminals than the victims, I believe.

I've been here a little over a year and that's the first time I have expressed my opinion on the matter and I did it without any histrionics.

I don't have any sympathy for murderers either.Lock 'em up and throw away the key.

As anyone who has been in one can tell you, jail is no picnic.

[Clump]

I am pro-(innocent) life.

[FormerLib]

I've been here a little over a year and that's the first time I have expressed my opinion on the matter and I did it without any histrionics.

LOL! No sir, I wasn't referring to you...

[hellinahandcart]

Republicans should be pro-life.

I despise the term "pro-life" almost as much as "pro-choice".

Back in the days before Roe v. Wade, HONEST PEOPLE had no qualms about calling themselves pro-abortion or anti-abortion.

I am anti-abortion. I am pro-death-penalty. I don't care what it costs society to raise babies instead of killing them, anymore than I care how much it costs to execute those for whom death is the only appropriate punishment.

Some things are absolutely worth the money.

[hellinahandcart]

Now, if you're going to force me to choose, fine. I will trade the death penalty for abortion.

But not one second before abortion is treated by the law as murder.

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

“I despise the term "pro-life" almost as much as "pro-choice".”

I’m anti-abortion, but I struggle with the issue of the death penalty. I just don’t know how to approach the issue from a philosophical stand point. I’m want to be pro-life (meaning innocent and guilty), but I have feeling like most, that some of these criminals deserve to die. I just don’t think it the government’s duty to kill its prisoners.

I posted this topic with the hopes of creating a discussion to help me justify my pro-life position, and I’m pleased and impressed with the people who joined the discussion. Thank you.

Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com

[jjmcgo]

There are several problems with the death penalty from a pro-death penalty point of view, the most significant being the removal of the gallows from the town square to a medical room within a prison where a convict is gently put to sleep out of the public eye.
Criminal sentences are meant to deliver both punishment to the defendant and a deterrent warning to both the criminal and others in society.
Hang 'em high at noon downtown. Put it on cable.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

What The Bible Says - Capital Punishment

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

"God instituted Capital Punishment for the crime of murder"

Seems like a vicious cycle of killing and being killed. Who has the right to take a life; a preacher, priest, warden, victim’s family? I wouldn’t want to face judgment after spending my life slaughtering people that were accused of a crime.

I don’t believe justice is served by feeding the blood lust of revenge.

Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com