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To: Forest Keeper; MarkBsnr; Dr. Eckleburg; irishtenor; P-Marlowe; Seven_0; blue-duncan
However, it seems to me you are making a proportion argument

Of course it's proportional. Like He said

Giving equally can be meaningful only if proportional. If I feed an adult and a 5 year-old child with the same amount of food, either the adult will get too little or the child will get too much.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but that would seem to be the only interpretation if everyone has a fair shot at getting into Heaven

The NT tells us that God came to save the world and would prefer to have all men saved. So, that assumption is correct. Christ made it possible for all men to go to heaven.

The result would be that those with the least would be encouraged to commit the most crime because the penalties would be less

Less in what sense? Those who have the least are the ones who commit most crimes anyway. How severe a penalty is depends on an individual's perception. It's relative. If the punishment is meant to discourage then is must be applied proportionally.

If it is meant to stop (prevent)  a criminal from ever hurting the society then death penalty and lifelong incarceration are equal justice for all.

A $50 parking ticket is meaningless to a millionaire. To someone struggling on a tight budget it can be a disaster. It this case, it may discourage the one struggling and have no effect on the millionaire, yet their misdemeanor is the same.

How does the punishment then "fit" the crime? Equal justice for all should mean that the punishment stings the same, which is obviously not the case here.

5,251 posted on 09/03/2007 7:37:14 AM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: kosta50; MarkBsnr; Dr. Eckleburg; irishtenor; P-Marlowe; Seven_0; blue-duncan
FK: "The result would be that those with the least would be encouraged to commit the most crime because the penalties would be less."

Less in what sense? Those who have the least are the ones who commit most crimes anyway. How severe a penalty is depends on an individual's perception. It's relative. If the punishment is meant to discourage then is must be applied proportionally.

Less in terms of jail time. A poor person would have less to lose for attempting crime because he would receive less jail time under your system. A rich person would receive more jail time for the same crime because his liberty would be seen as more "valuable". A variation of this is how organized crime works, which your system promotes. :)

If it is meant to stop (prevent) a criminal from ever hurting the society then death penalty and lifelong incarceration are equal justice for all.

The punishment should be proportional to the crime, not the person.

A $50 parking ticket is meaningless to a millionaire. To someone struggling on a tight budget it can be a disaster. It this case, it may discourage the one struggling and have no effect on the millionaire, yet their misdemeanor is the same.

Sure, for Mickey Mouse violations it does work like that. But it doesn't take long before people face loss of license or jail time. It evens out pretty quickly. Parking tickets are one thing, but even something as small as speeding can get serious if one isn't careful.

5,431 posted on 09/05/2007 1:11:06 AM PDT by Forest Keeper (It is a joy to me to know that God had my number, before He created numbers.)
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To: kosta50; Forest Keeper; MarkBsnr; Dr. Eckleburg; irishtenor; P-Marlowe; blue-duncan
Less in what sense? Those who have the least are the ones who commit most crimes anyway.

Where does this come from? I remember David, who had so much, took Uriah's wife. Even today, people in power are able to take from others without committing "crimes." They usually take much more than poor people take.

How severe a penalty is depends on an individual's perception. It's relative. If the punishment is meant to discourage then is must be applied proportionally.

If it is meant to stop (prevent) a criminal from ever hurting the society then death penalty and lifelong incarceration are equal justice for all.

You should distinguish between discipline and punishment. To me, discipline is for the future and punishment is for the past.

Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
If judgment could yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, then God could throw everyone into hell until they have completely repented, then they would be ready for heaven. But we know that it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

Seven
5,443 posted on 09/05/2007 9:55:42 AM PDT by Seven_0 (You cannot fool all of the people, ever!)
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