rried out each year does not compare in the slightest to the imprisonment rate of murderers; the total executions doesnt even make a dent in the budgets of our states. There is the issue as viewed from a religious standpoint. The anti-death penalty position is officially the stance of the Catholic Church, affirmed by Pope John Paul II in his March 1995 encyclical, when he stated that conditions that would justify the death penalty are practically nonexistent. According to the 1995 Gallup survey, all major Protestant denominations except Southern Baptists officially oppose the death penalty as well. What most clerical scholars do agree on is that the judicial system must be improved to prevent the possibility of putting even one innocent person to death. After all, one of the oldest examples of a society executing an innocent man was the crucifixion of Jesus ChristBut let us look at the religion that has always incorporated into criminal proceedings, Christianity. In the bible God stated, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." But it is commonly argued that the famous passage in the bible that reads, "an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" should be interpreted as supporting revenge. True, it could be read that way, but if they are going to believe the bible supports the death penalty, they would also have to believe that Christs death requires them as believers to forgive their fellow man his sins. I personally find this convenient faith in only the relevant and flexibly translated sections of the bible offensive. The tendency to hide the revenge aspect of the death penalty behind the idea of the convicted decision being beyond reform is common. The people, who are said to be beyond reform that are not sentenced to die, but are given life without parole. There is no reason for the death penalty in this case except pure revenge -- someone must pay dearly for those deaths, and that is the sad bottom line. Because of the vicious nature of the ...
