death. It is already well-known that the fifth commandment is “You shall not kill.” But in more serious cases where more harsh crimes are committed, severe punishment, including the death penalty is given. It is thought that preserving a society requires making someone unable to inflict harm unto others. In order to do this you have to punish or try to rehabilitate the person doing wrong. The following is and excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:The primary effect of punishment is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment has the effect of preserving public order and the safety of persons. Finally punishment has a medicinal value; as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.Throughout this paper I have tried to voice some of my own opinions while telling the facts. And if I haven’t done this now is my chance. First of all I would like to say that I am totally for capital punishment. I believe that it works and that we should use it more today, and that it does make better society. Second, the only problem with capital punishment today is that it is not swift and public. In the old days someone was sentenced to die and than right away his head was cut off. When we punish someone in public then others will learn from the mistakes of that one person. But when it takes fifteen years to kill someone and it happens only with a few people watching, nobody learns anything. It has been proven throughout time that capital punishment ...
