Qualify all you like. The statistics don't lie, the convicted are guilty. Perhaps if you or your family were the victims of such violence you may have another think. I stand corrected on the fallible/infallible misspeak. You miss the point that in a perfect world no innocent would be put to death, well unless you're in the womb and your mommy makes a decision to give you the death penalty.
Why not? Didnt God say 'justice is mine?' Didnt Jesus say judge not lest you be judged and let he who is without sin cast the first stone? That doesn't change anything. Was the holocaust justified because the government said it was? No. Your argument here fails. LOL "The Word" is entirely contradictory. If you are referring to the Bible, Jesus was a complete pacifist, so I dont see how or where you get your support for capital punishment.
I dont care about US justice system (although the 'right to life' seems quite clear) I;m more interested in the ethics. You mention "common sense and justice" - explain these, because I see neither in most forms of capital punishment. Why is it the right thing to do? LOL That is another argument AGAINST capital punishment - let God do the justice, not humans. LOL! Yes there is. But they should according to your ethical principle. Are you describing capital punishment here or war? Sounds like both to me. Why do you see it as justice, or rather for what reason that could be called valid can you possibly see it as justice? If it is valid there is no reason why I cannot endorse it. It cannot be justified simply because 'you think it is'. That is illogical.
At least you acknowledge that abortion is 'killing someone'. Some pro-abortionists won't admit that because they wouldn't be able to sleep at night. If someone is absolutely guilty of a heinous crime, IMO they are too dangerous to live in civilized society. Putting them in jail for life puts an undue burden on a law-abiding society and is cruel to criminal. Putting them to death is a humane way for eliminating true evil from the world.
To answer your question: because a fetus does not care, know or even comprehend to any degree, that it is alive or existing in any way.
Incorrect. It depends on how far along the pregnancy is. Just search for 'does a fetus feel pain' and that will get you started (if you're interested).
Pain is not consciousness. Consciousness, ie self awareness, mental thought and conceptualization of oneself as alive, occurs several months after pregnancy,
Jesus was no pacifist, far from it. You of the PC crowd would have us believe this but you follow not His teachings, you don't even understand the purpose of Jesus walking this earth and becoming a sacrifice for humanity.
So the government is made by God? Sorry government is man made. Only God can dispense justice. This has been stated repeatedly by the Jesus - my kingdom is not of this world. So it isnt justified because the government says so? Ok so why is capital punishment, as you describe it, justified? Actually it recognized a german Lutheran sect as its state religion. Nazis commonly had belt with 'God mit uns' on them meaning "God with us." LOL Epic fail. You realize you have an atheistic constitution right? It doesn't recognize any god/gods. People of America at the time weren't even very religious. Most of the pollies then were just deists - they didnt believe Jesus was God, nor did thy believe in miracles. Jefferson for example wrote his version of the Bible that cut all the magical nonsense out and jsut kept Jesus' teachings. I've got a copy - its called the Jefferson Bible. Cracking read. Of course he was. He was total hippy. He said 'turn the other cheek' and 'love one another as I have loved you'. The most violent thing he EVER did in his life was flip a few tabled and have a hissy! The only PC person here is you mate - you cant handle reality so you need a propagandist version of history, where everything good is Christian or American. LOL Oh I'm a great fan of Jesus actually. I find he has a hell of a lot in common with Buddha in fact. There are aspects of Hinduism also that parallel his nonviolent teachings. Of course I do - it was to bring us his interpretation of how humans should leave, like all the other great philosophers.
His change of heart wouldn't bring back the person he killed, would it? If he truly felt remorseful for what he had done, he would accept his fate and willingly give his life to atone for his misdeeds. In cultures from eras past, honor was most important thing in the world. And if someone committed an unforgivable act, the only way to restore honor was to sacrifice one's own life. And this was done voluntarily without legal action because honor was more important than life. Hence the phrase "death before dishonor." And what do you care anyway? You posted a thread in the abortion section asking why human life was valuable.
same Pro life does not expire just becuase you are born. From the worst animal killer to the just concieved child. All are children of our creater. But that does not mean I should force my views on others. Better that the states decide, a people should be able to live as they want.
But killing him would? Why would he do that? LOL Who gives a (*)(*)(*)(*) about them. The whole reason we live better now is because we have dropped such stupid concepts. If you want to be a Samurai, go ahead. I see no reason for myself or criminals to live by Bushido. I care because the criminal cares. Its only logical. Correct You see a contradiction? Point it out. If you had read my OP you would know there is no contradiction. Clearly you didnt.
Well its either true or it isnt, no matter what you "believe". Since there is no "creator" that we should really acknowledge, even if he exists, which he/she probably doesn't, I dont see why religion is relevant.
Well it matters to me since religion is what helped me come to the realization that opposing abortion and supporting the death penalty at best makes no sense and at worst is hypocritical.
Religion plays no part in my stand. It's a matter of what the NT says on the issues and my common sense. One is about the innocent, the other is about the guilty. A great divide.
This reminds me of something René Descartes said. He argued that animals lack consciousness and therefore do not experience pain and suffering in the way that humans do. Fact is, pain requires consciousness. We simply do not know what a child feels in the womb when aborted.
No, it doesn't. A fetus, for example, will flinch from pain, but it doesn't have a brain to process it. Pain is not contingent on consciousness. Pain is based on nerve reaction, not mental process, unless we are referring to the psychological processing of pain as a feeling and emotion. That then would be consciousness and self awareness. No, but we do know it cant think about or comprehend it because it has no mind to do so.
