Some people believe that life is so sacred that, in case of murderers and rapists, the death penalty is necessary to sustain protection for other life-forms. Others however, believe that this God-like power should never be used, even in the case of vile and dangerous criminals and crimes committed. Capital punishment is evidently considered murder, due to the ending of a human life with deliberate intentions. Murder can be defined as the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another, which is accurately and like-wise the description of capital punishment. In the movie: “Into the Abyss”, the film-maker uses an alarming triple homicide that took place in Conroe, Texas as a foundation to exploring capital punishment in this challenging, thought-infuriating documentary.
Even though they excluded any religion to be part of the government regulations, they used Christianity to influence them and build a strong foundation for the new type of government. In a webpage of the history of death penalty they stated that they used the bible and popular teachings to create basic laws and form basic human rights that many religions would forbid death penalty such as; Catholics, Presbyterians, Quakers, Amish’s, and Mennonites. One can easily find a statement teaching that one should not kill, which was used to make a law against murder. No matter what circumstance killing is wrong. So, why are some states killing criminals?
Euthanasia is touted as the ultimate pain relief, but comes at the ultimate price. Religious beliefs notwhistanding, and treating solely on ethical and moral grounds, should euthanasia be offered as a last resort?
After Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo feels that it is his responsibility to avenge his friend’s death. However, he doesn’t have the authority to determine Tybalt’s fate. If he had let the law take care of punishment, he would not have had blood on his hands and he would not have been sent into exile. Secondly, Romeo’s feelings lack consistency. In one moment Romeo is full of anger and hatred for Tybalt, so he kills him.
Pelagius was a British Monk who was an ascetic who worked hard to convince Christians of their duty to lead moral lives. He argued that moral evil was due to free acts of will by individual human beings. He believed that God punishes wicked acts in a number of ways, partly in this life through natural disasters, partly in the life to come by eternal punishment of the souls of the sinful in hell. Pelagius believed that in order to escape the sin you had to imitate Jesus, who led a perfectly good life. Therefore we can freely decide to avoid sin and do good through their own free will.
Whereas relative is has loads of expectations and depends on the ethics of the situation. Absolute morality tends to be more religion orientated. In the Ten Commandments, there is one saying ‘Thou shalt not kill’ meaning ‘murder is not allowed.” Christians won’t question these rules, as they are from God. This is an absolutist rule. Someone who doesn’t follow a religion may tend to be more of a relativist, and they may say “Murder should be prevented, unless murdering one could stop the murder of more.” Using Kant’s famous example, if a murderer with an axe came to your house asking the whereabouts of your children, you’d have to tell him so that you are being moral as the murderer is his own moral agent and you are not responsible for his choices, you are only responsible for your own and it’ll be wrong to lie, even if it is to protect your loved ones.
Should we adhere to the policy of “an eye for an eye”? Opponents of the Death Penalty, in their attempt to illustrate that executing a convicted criminal is no less barbaric than the crime for which he or she is being punished, claim that sentencing these individuals to death does not deter crime. In fact, such executions merely convey that it is acceptable to act violently. In her argument against Capital Punishment, Belinda York states, “Why should potential criminals be afraid of committing crimes, when the very society that prohibits such behavior resorts to the same methods” (89)? According to this view, if the state is allowed to kill, why is not this privilege extended to all citizens?
No one knows whether Colby should be killed or not. However, in the story the larger group of people had always the power to decide Colby’s future and even his death. Because this group made the choice and agreed to kill Colby, he must die. And Colby who is an individual cannot win against the pressure group. Furthermore, the majority group’s power leads to corruption, they are correct because they believed they are correct and no one in the story can be against that, so they did not “pay attention to this argument”(1) about murdering Colby.
Opponents of capital punishment say it has no deterrent effect on crime, wrongly gives governments the power to take human life, and spreads social injustices by disproportionately targeting people of color (racist) and people who cannot afford good attorneys (classist). They say lifetime jail sentences are a more severe and less expensive punishment than death. .Pro Death-Penalty "If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed
In a teaching on The Mount (Matthew 5-7), he taught his followers to love their enemies, to forgive those who had wronged them, and to respond to violence with non-violence, returning good for evil. These are the basis for Christian pacifism. However, there are some Christians who may be against violence and war in principle, but may take part in a war for the greater good of all. This is even more of a case when the war is to defeat evil and to preserve religious freedom or rights in the face of evil. Christians who do this are called conditional pacifists.