Eye for an Eye - Comments

In Ireland there is no capital punishment and you can't buy guns, but that's a different story :P

Don't you love how people always try to throw the bible in your face when it comes to things like these. 'The bible says this,' or 'The bible says that'... I love hypocrites. If they really knew what they were talking about, they wouldn't be trying to play God. There is no way to be one-hundred percent positive that someone committed a crime. There's always that slim chance that there was a fault in the system and the wrong person has been convicted. What happens when a man is put to death for murder, then a year later, evidence is uncovered to prove his innocence? How do you take back a mistake like that?

The number one thing to remember in all this is that an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

This is a very good article. It makes me disappointed in the human race, to be honest. With the level of technological advances available to us now, capital punishment shouldn't even be a thought. No matter te situation, I don't think killing someone is the right decision. I think there are other forms of punishment that could be just aseffective. This article makes me think of how glad I am to live in an area where the capital punishment isn't used. I know I'd never do something that bad, but I can't guarentee I'll never get framed and have to deal with this. I'm ranting.

Overall, very well written and interesting article. =]

I do agree with this article, for the most part, and you did a great job writing it! As others have said already, it is definitely thought-provoking.

I would like to point out, though, that executioners are not murderers, they are killers. The difference is usually ignored, of course, but... I understand that 'murderer' invokes a more passionate response than 'killer', but it's used incorrectly all too often. :/ I do still think killing is wrong, but just... not all killing is murder. :/

Eh, anyway, I still do think it's a great article! Very well-written! :)

Tom_Randall, I applaud you. You're absolutely right. The death penalty is for savages. I think it's really interesting how a lot of people, religious or not, will turn to the Bible to support their own philosophy on killing "an eye for an eye". These people seem to completely disregard "Thou shalt not kill." Now I'm not religious, but if that is not a reason for a good "Christian" state to stop the death penalty then I don't know what is. And if "It creates space in the prisons" as an excuse for killing is used then heck... have we lost ALL humanity?

Britain abolished the death penalty with the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 with the last execution actually taking place in 1964. It was finally completely and utterly (you can't ever go back) outlawed in 1998 with the European Human Rights Act. So coming from Britain, with a strong *against* opinion on the death penalty; this map shocks me: http://filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/death-penalty-map-united-states.png

I really like this article. I agree with it. No one should decide who dies, etc. Because dying isn't enough for people for have commited their crimes. Although I do hate that we have pay for it, regardless...

I love to debate this topic. I’m a future politician/lawyer and I’m seeking change.

No one has the right to say who lives and who dies. It always baffles me when folks of religion are quick to accept and praise the penalty, not all religious people are, but I know many.

Another argument against it is that the drugs used prevent the punished from voicing discomfort. This penalty often cost upwards of millions of dollars with all the appeals that are made. It cost more to kill a person than it cost to store them for life.

I've tried for a while to write a comment, not because I'm affraid of being attacked, but felt that a few of them didn't fit.

Your article though is very thought prevoking, especially when you come across all of the hypothetical questions, nice choice to use such a tool. It was very well written, especially on a topic that not many would ever address. You seem to know quite a bit about what you were talking about. So kudos for doing your research especially about the facts bellow. Even though your article is really well built and developed, I think if you would have put those facts in there, it really would have supported your thesis even more.

You never see anyone use the Bible as a reference, but I'm curious are you directing this at Christians? Sorry, I read more into things then I should occasionally, but I was curious.

Congradulations again for making a really well built article, especially on your title. It's an intresting choice for the topic...

A quick correction on my part from quick maths:

The percentage is actually 0.09%, an even SMALLER figure than I misgave. My apologies, but in a way, furthering the point.

A response to zazoo:

The number of Americans executed since 1976 (when capital punishment was reintroduced for states who wanted it) is 1226. (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/FactSheet.pdf)
The number of American inmates, as of January 2010, (I couldn't find a more recent figure, please provide one if you do) is 1,404,053. (http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Prison_Count_2010.pdf?n=880)
As a percentage, that is 0.8%. Only executing 0.8% of the prison population is not exactly freeing up the desired space that you talk about. Even then, this is including parts of the population that were executed from 35 years ago.
While you're looking on the death penalty information website, it might also interest you to look at the financial facts. Not exactly the most cost-effective method either.

Okay so you understand that life in prison = money + space. Too much money is spent and not enough space for prisoners. I'm for death penalty.

It was purely to describe the point clearly; any emphasis on religion is never because of hatred towards it. The bible was the easiest to reference. I could have done it with any religion, but Christianity is, just by presumption on my part, a religion most members on here can relate to and know clearly of.

I don't understand why you had to put so much emphasis on the Bible, most Christian churches nowadays oppose the death penalty and the US is the only major Christian country in which the death penalty is still practiced, most of the other are either atheist (i.e. China, Japan) or Muslim (Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc).

This is a great article.

Thought provoking, detailed, and presents some very valid arguments. I liked that you put a lot of information into this to back up your opinion. You also structured it well to make it easy to read as well whilst writing it in a way that it makes it seem like you have covered the argument well (even though there are lots of different arguments), and, whilst passionate about your positon on the issue, you didn't brutally attack the other side.

Well done.

I've attempted to type up a comment three times now, and I fear that each time I say something...it doesn't sound quite right and it would get attacked. :)

So, I shall say that this is an interesting article, and it's well thought out and written. I also like the use of deontology combined with moral philosophy, because it provokes a whole lot of thought.

And I'll leave it at that. :)