Caution: What you are about to read will probably contain sarcasm, belligerent comments, and may be offensive to those who are postmodern, liberal, moderate, democrats, or people who simply get offended at the drop of a hat. Don’t like it? Don’t read it.
I wrote a previous blog entry on Capitol Punishment that mostly came from my ethics class in college. I asked the questions “Is Capitol Punishment a sinful, evil thing to do to people, or are we commanded to punish those who have chosen to break the law? What does the Bible say about it?” and then I proceeded to give several biblical examples of capitol punishment being carried out and commanded by God himself.
I found the comments that people left on the subject to be very interesting. Some people of course commented without even reading the entry which made them look like idiots. If you are not going to take the time to read the blog entry and honestly think about the subject matter then don’t waste your time leaving a comment! Ok now that I got that out of my system I would like to take a look at some of the comments that were made.
Note: In the third paragraph of the entry I put an added emphasis on homosexuality while listing several things people were put to death for. The reason I did this was because I thought it was interesting that an issue that so many people argue about and seek to defend and fight for is something that people were put to death for in the Old Testament. I think it was something abominable to God and his creation and as God wanted his nation to be holy as he is holy then he wanted to get rid of that sin, which meant an execution was in order. This was the same for bestiality, adultery, murder and many other things.
One of the first comments dealt with this issue. Sakamuyo wrongly determined that I was “persecuting homosexuals for fun and pleasure.” I tried to explain myself in a very civil way, but apparently my biblical views on homosexuality made me an unworthy Christian (if i am still a Christian at all in his eyes) and thus I never heard from sakamuyo again even though before that he was a fairly regular reader and commenter. An awful childish reaction to one simple disagreement if you ask me. If I stopped talking to and avoided everyone that I disagreed with, even in the slightest way, then I would probably live a lonely life… but whatever. I did have a good friend come to my defense on this issue. Le Renard stated, “I don’t think that Pressed was encouraging open season on gays and lesbians or witch hunts or anything. As he said, it was only to point out the seriousness with which God treated homosexuality in opposition to how our present culture accepts it.” But no answer, no matter how biblical, is accepted by the postmodern, moderate, and liberal ’so called pastors’ of the day.
Next we have Tom who stated, “The list in Pressed’s original post also cites “contempt for judicial decisions” as a basis for capital punishment. Should all the demonstrators who came to Washington DC to protest Roe v. Wade then be put to death?” Hmmm. That is an interesting thought. I didn’t really say that “contempt for judicial decisions” is a basis for capitol punishment, I simply listed it as something that people were put to death for in the Old Testament. The thing that must be remembered is that this was a stipulation in the Israelite society of the Old Testament, meaning they were not controlled by a secular government but in fact God was their king (before they cried and whined for an earthly one.) I do believe that we still have to respect and obey our secular governments today under the commandment of Romans 13:1-4, but not if it goes against obedience to the ultimate authority God himself.
Renee left this comment, “I am only 17 years old and have yet to learn the true nature of the world, but all I see from this site is hate for others. (Well then you have not really read much on this site! My guess is you barely skimmed over this entry because it does discuss love for others!) I want to cry it is so sad and it truly makes my heart brake. I do not believe in the death penalty because (in states with the death penalty) if it is the right way to teach people that killing is wrong, then why do people still commit these crimes? How can we teach people not to kill, if we give permission to the state to kill? (Shouldn’t the State have the right to govern the people and punish those who break the law? Would you say that about war too? If we were attacked by another country would you not want the government to have permission to fight against them because we wouldn’t want the government to have permission to kill anyone? We would all be dead!) How are we to reach a higher state of understanding and compassion for others if we give ourselves the right to kill people who do not hold our values?” (WHAT! So a cold blooded murderer has different values than the state so that means they shouldn’t be punished? Wow… so what is the point of jail? The people in jail apparently have different values than the state, so what gives the state the right to go against the values of a murderer or drug dealer or any other type of lawbreaker. Heck what is the point of laws! Just let everyone do what they want and the world would be a better place. *rolling eyes*)
Last but certainly not least we have Jules. “I believe that the Death Penalty is wrong and very unjust. Only God can decided who should leave this world. Families shouldn’t commit murder and become the criminal to get comfort. That won’t bring the loved one back. This world is going to Hell!” This world has been going to the fiery pit for a long time, where have you been? You may be right, only God can decided who should leave this world, and in the Old Testament he chose to use PEOPLE (yes faulty, sinful people) to be the judge and put people to death for certain crimes. Then He turns around and tells us in Romans that we are under the authority of the Law, so now the government has the right to punish people for their crimes.
Well lets get to the point shall we? The point is that capitol punishment was a fact in the Bible and God was involved, it isn’t a man made evil. God wanted to make his people holy and he wanted the Israelites to be a holy nation devoted to Him and Him alone, so in their law God gave them the command to kill people who disobey certain laws. I believe this was to remove that sinful act from the nation by removing those who are evil enough to commit them. The problem is there is a big difference today. The difference is we are often times not governed by God nor Godly people and so the system is corrupt, whereas in the Old Testament they were governed by God and ruled by those who were obedient to God and not by a secular system. I do have a bit of difficulty when it comes to the death penalty in that the system could be corrupt and innocent people could possibly be condemned to die. BUT if we had a perfect system then I would not have any problem with capitol punishement…
But like always you don’t have to agree! So hit me with your thoughts below.
Pressed
Comments
I was going to comment on the comment that Jules left on the first post about capitol punishment. I disagree with her. Capitol punishment is needed. If it was used more we would have less murder and rape etc.
Posted by: Michael on March 11, 2003 10:38 PM
You are such a hate mongerer (did I spell that right?)!!!!! I get so angry at you! GRRRRR ARRRGHHH! But we must love and totally ignore the sins of others.
Oh, and Michael, I’m not sure that I agree with your statement, “Capitol punishment is needed. If it was used more we would have less murder and rape etc.” I doubt many murderers and rapists are thinking to themselves, “Oh I don’t want to be killed by leathal injection, I better not murder/rape this person.”
Posted by: Christopher on March 12, 2003 07:07 AM
You might be right Mr. Wright. I did a paper on capitol punishment in high school and there are some very good points about it not being a deterent to crime. It might (would) keep someone frome doing it again.
Posted by: Michael on March 12, 2003 04:06 PM
I didn’t stop reading. I just stopped commenting. I don’t doubt your relationship with Christ. I just think you are wrong about a few things, as I am sure you think I am wrong about a few things. I do think you and I see the world in ways that are so different, that simple comment communication probably isn’t going to work very well. So, I keep my thoughts to myself.
Posted by: kevin on March 14, 2003 06:13 PM
He that is without sin cast the first stone…Is there anyone on a jury that is without sin anough to be able to send a man to death????
Certainly there isn’t anyone on the Jury who would be without sin, right-e-o. Of course pulling a Bible verse out of context and using it for an agenda that it wasn’t intended for is also not something I recommend. That particular verse, like many others, has become the catch all for people. Maybe there should be no authority over people… certainly if we are using this verse in the context you plopped it in then there shouldn’t be any other person who has the right to judge or condemn us, because they are all a bunch of sinners too! A cop shouldn’t give me a speeding ticket because I am sure that he has done some speeding in his life too. What right does anyone have over us at all in this case? Kinda makes the stuff Paul said about obeying authority worthless. Think about those times that God told his people to put to death others for breaking certain laws. Does God contradict himself?
The religious leaders were using the law for their own personal gain and the only reason they wanted to stone the lady in the first place was not out of justice nor was it out of a need to fulfill the law but it was instead a selfish and evil act in order to get Jesus. They wanted Jesus to make the choice so that they could prosecute him. That whole story is really not about the lady being stoned at all other than the fact that they were using her for their aganda. It really has no bearing when talking about capital punishment. It sad when you have to take a verse and force it to prove you’re own agenda one way or another. If you have an issue with capitol punishment then fine, speak your mind, write what you think. It’s far more productive than just flopping out a verse and hoping that it reveals your opinion to all…
hey my name is patrick and im 15 years old……i believe that capitol punishment is needed in this sinful world of ours. in genesis 9:6 it says Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image……ask some one who lost a familly member or friend on september 11………capitol punishment is necessary. yes i also ask my self……is 100 free murders worth 1 inocent mans life…..YES but thats why i dont make the decisions till im older and wiser
HI my name is Anna Im 14 and I belive that we should have capitol punishment,Why? Because no one in my opinoin should that is convictid of murder should have a chance to live. I also think that they should die how they murdered, unless it was very grusome.
Hi my name is Brandi and I believe that everybody pays for what they do and if someone comits murder
they should be murderd!!!!!!
Hey my name is Kasey and im 14. I think that if someone commits a murder than they should have serious punishment even if it means DEATh!!! I dont understand why people would want to kill someone, why? well they are jus lame and self-centered to do that. They are so mean and cruel.
I think Anna is a mean little gurl
I strongly agree with capitol punishment, because if a crime is commited and something serious is not done about it like hanging, then the person will be able to commit another crime once he has wlife.
you are all imbasilssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Bunda Seca)
Especially Kasey!!!
If we kill our murderers, should we rape the rapists or torture the torturers? There is a reason most other civilized countries have gotten ride of the practice of capitol punishment. If anyone here had actually had an informed opinion then there would be better arguments for keeping the killings rather than “I think that it’s good” It has been proven that death is not a big enough deterrant to keep people from killing, if it’s not effective, why keep it around?
Rae,
It’s not effective because of the way we do it. If you commit murder and you are sentanced to the death penalty it isn’t like they then take you out into the street and shoot you. Instead you get to live for years and years in prison and then you may or may not face death, depending on whether or not someone tries and gets you out of it. Our system has become weak and lame, so of course it doesn’t work.
But, giving me a ticket for speeding doesn’t work either because I still speed. Should we get rid of police departments and officers all together? From your logic, and so called ‘informed opinion’ we should. I don’t think getting rid of it is the answer, I think improving it is. The sad thing is we have become to limp wristed and weak to disipline anyone at all. We no longer spank our children, or do anything that would seem ‘violent’ and then we expect society to be this perfect little place where everyone is happy. Consequences mean nothing when they are meaningless and inaffective. If the death penalty meant instant death I think a few more people would think twice before doing what they have done. Will it totally stop crime? Nope, nothing ever will. But it is absolutly ridiculous to say, well if it isn’t going to stop crime then we need to stop doing it. Lets just let everyone go ape wild and see if we live in a better place.
hey bunda seca u need to shut up cuz u is gay i will whoop u azz so shut up? ~k~ get over it!!! u wanna know wut? bunda seca=retard
Like daddy’s always say if you do you take the whoopins for it.the way i see it if you do the killin you take the death.
its exactly right
I don’t think there should be a death penalty because the person just has to be killed for whatever they did and they don’t really have to pay for it. I think they should have to sit in prison for the rest of there lives, without any privilages.