God made it very clear to the Hebrews that he really meant business and that what he said goes. Many consequences of sin result in death. Murder being one of them. Leviticus 24:17 Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. Lets see what other crimes resulted in death. Leviticus 24:16 states: And whoever blasphenmes the name of the Lord shall be put to death. all of the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death. In exodus 35:2 they would be put to death for work on the Sabbath day. That just a few things that you could be put to death if you were a jew in the Old Testament. Yes, we are under the new law rather than the old one, but how should this affect us today. People say the death penalty is wrong and inhumane. But I say it is needed. I believe that less crime would be in the United States if we would inforce the death penalty. I believe that rapist, murderers, child molesters, thieves, and drug dealers should be punished by death. Most people would think before the commit such crimes if this was so. America would be a better place.
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Murder- it depends on the situation
Rape- ditto
Child Molestors- Hmmm
Theives-There goes DC
Drug Dealers- That is insane
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
I'm trying to figure out how it depends on the situation with murder and rape......
Personally, I am for the "an eye for an eye... tooth for a tooth' kind of punishment, but who am I to judge. Nice blog.
It is considered murder if you kill someone and it is against the law. LEts say it's an accident. What then?
Lets say you're drunk and your partners drunk and rape happens. You know what you did. You're willing to serve a punishment. Is death necessary ?
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
I wish we'd use the death penalty more often. It drives me batty when some young guy (20-something) gets sentenced to life in prison. I don't pay taxes for him to get three meals a day and television in prison, not for sixty years!
Here's the way I look at it: If the prison sentence extends into the part of life where most people start kicking the bucket (60-something) and they have no chance at parole, kill 'em. If they have a chance at parole, and don't get it, so they'd be there during that time, kill 'em.
I'm all for "an eye for an eye". If Joe shoots my sister, he took her right to live. I think he no longer has the right to live.
Phew! I'll get off my soapbox now....
PS- DP would apply to murder, and anything to do with hurting a child. Being thrown under the jail is too good for those...monsters.
I dont believe anyone should be sentenced to death. You bringing up the bible and should should think about the new testament a little. If you take a look at romans
Romans 12:19, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord,”'
We are not the ones to set death penalties for anyone.
Lets go for the fact that some people are innocent of their alleged crimes, do you think they should die? Well based on what you are saying an innocent peoson will be put to death under your rule. At least let them live in prison for life.
Maybe if you had an aunt murdered you would think differently.
And why should I pay my taxes for some low-life to rot in jail for the rest of his life?
Excuse me, hi, since you called us "Hebrews", you probably don't know that according to Hebraic Law (at least by the BCE/CE change over), the death penalty had been abolished because of the 6th Commandment "thou shall not kill". Nice try.
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If I had had more time I would have written less. -- Thomas Jefferson
RachelSetzer.com
The books that I got those verses from were written after Moses got the Ten commandments from the mountain and thou shalt not kill doesn't apply to sentencing for a crime.
Yes, obviously I know that. But my point stands. There is no death penalty in Hebraic Law now. There hasn't been for some 2500 years. That's less than half of our history, but that's not the point. The Jewish people abolished the death penalty despite the book from which you took your scripture passages. That being so, you cannot use my people's book to justify something that we don't do ourselves.
It's called "growing as a society". Some time after Leviticus was written, we realized that it was wrong to kill someone for obscure and stupid things as well as for things that are wrong. We realized long before anyone in the rest of the Western World, that the death penalty isn't about justice, it's about revenge.
If you want to justify the death penalty, go right ahead, but pick a different book to quote. Maybe Richard Dawkins can help you out.
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If I had had more time I would have written less. -- Thomas Jefferson
RachelSetzer.com
I've never heard Dawkins in support of the death penalty. I think that's a little mean-spirited on all sides. On one side, I would imagine that's deeply insulting to a religious person. On the other side, it's suggesting that atheists happily practice something you consider to be wrong.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
If you subscribe to the Old Testament ideology, then you probably believe that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment. But wait, what about the first recorded murder when Cain killed Able? I don't recall a death sentence. What about the numerous offenses for which the death penalty could be imposed, including working on Sunday, disrepecting your parents, and adultry? Not many people would be left if we applied all of the Talmudic Code. And last, just what would Jesus do? The New Testament is about redemption and forgiveness. The only thing that is clear is that God nor the Bible did not make the issue of the death penalty a clear decision. Is it possible that you are only selecting the parts of the Bible with which you agree? Thomas Jefferson did the same (his Bible is still on display).
A few more facts - it costs 2-5 times more to seek and impose a death sentence than to house some one in prison for life. The death penalty is no more of a general deterrent than is life in prison. The manner in which we impose the death penalty results in a travesty of justice (an eye for an eye is an attempt at retribution, not revenge), and is one more factor in our isolation from the world community.
Technically, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" could almost be better translated "Thou Shalt Not Murder"...
I disagree. Many of the people who commit these crimes aren't even thinking about the punishment they might receive if they get caught, so the death penalty would probably not stop many rapists because they aren't even assuming they will be caught, or aren't even thinking.