Post by Jesse Morrell on Aug 20, 2009 13:08:13 GMT -5
I uploaded to YouTube a video that says God supports Capital Punishment. This is that video:
Laws are for the good of the community. Punishments uphold the law. If the law is violated, disobedience would be encouraged in the community unless the disobedient are punished. Even Jesus Christ suffered capital punishment on the cross, in order to maintain and support the law of God which we violated! The law of God was so important that the blood of Christ had to be shed when it was violated! Likewise, human life is so valuable, "thou shalt not murder" is so valuable, that the blood of the criminal needs to be shed when it is violated. Punishment must give an expression of the value of the law, or else the law is not being properly vindicated and the object that the law seeks to protect is not being properly valued.
Someone said that we should love our enemies and therefore we should not want capital punishment. I answered, "I wouldn't want my enemies to live in a community where someone could murder them without facing capital punishment. Their life is not being fully protected or valued if someone could take their life without losing their own. Therefore because I love my enemies, I want capital punishment in our society."
He also objected to capital punishment because it does not reform the criminal and, he argued, the purpose of punishment is to reform the criminal. He went on to say that if we do not punish criminals in order to reform them, than our motive for punishing them must simply be revenge. I answered, "The purpose of punishment is not to reform the criminal. The purpose of punishment is to discourage others from doing likewise. The punishment must also declare the value of the law that was violated. Life is very valuable and therefore laws protecting life are valuable. Therefore when someone murderers another person, the only adequate expression of the value of the law they violated is to take their own life. Anything less is being unjust to the law, the community, and the victim. Punishments almost never reform the criminal. That is not their purpose. The purpose of penalties is to express the value of the law, to prevent crime by discouraging others, to protect the innocent. The purpose of penalties is not to reform the criminal. The penalty of the law is not supposed to be executed for the sake of personal revenge, nor to gratify the feelings of the victims or the relatives of the victim. The penalty of the law is supposed to be executed to protect the community by upholding the law. Crimes are not prosecuted as personal revenge, they are prosecuted for the sake of a community. We can forgive criminals, but the law cannot."
He also objected to capital punishment, calling it murder which is forbidden by the law of God. I answered, "Murder is the shedding of innocent blood. Some people deserve to die and for the government to take their life, it is not murder. Right after God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses He commanded Joshua to take the life, or to kill, entire communities. The reason God said was because they were wicked people. It was not murder for Joshua to take their life because they deserved to die. Murder is the shedding of innocent blood, like abortion."
Human life is not being valued when it can be taken by a person without facing capital punishment. The law which forbids murder is not being properly upheld if a person can commit murder without facing capital punishment. Murder is not being properly discouraged if it can be committed without capital punishment as the consequence. A community is not being properly protected or valued if murder can be committed without the execution of capital punishment. As long as murders are committed, it is right and just for the government to execute capital punishment. The government is obligated to do so. To do any less would be wrong and unjust.
Laws are for the good of the community. Punishments uphold the law. If the law is violated, disobedience would be encouraged in the community unless the disobedient are punished. Even Jesus Christ suffered capital punishment on the cross, in order to maintain and support the law of God which we violated! The law of God was so important that the blood of Christ had to be shed when it was violated! Likewise, human life is so valuable, "thou shalt not murder" is so valuable, that the blood of the criminal needs to be shed when it is violated. Punishment must give an expression of the value of the law, or else the law is not being properly vindicated and the object that the law seeks to protect is not being properly valued.
Someone said that we should love our enemies and therefore we should not want capital punishment. I answered, "I wouldn't want my enemies to live in a community where someone could murder them without facing capital punishment. Their life is not being fully protected or valued if someone could take their life without losing their own. Therefore because I love my enemies, I want capital punishment in our society."
He also objected to capital punishment because it does not reform the criminal and, he argued, the purpose of punishment is to reform the criminal. He went on to say that if we do not punish criminals in order to reform them, than our motive for punishing them must simply be revenge. I answered, "The purpose of punishment is not to reform the criminal. The purpose of punishment is to discourage others from doing likewise. The punishment must also declare the value of the law that was violated. Life is very valuable and therefore laws protecting life are valuable. Therefore when someone murderers another person, the only adequate expression of the value of the law they violated is to take their own life. Anything less is being unjust to the law, the community, and the victim. Punishments almost never reform the criminal. That is not their purpose. The purpose of penalties is to express the value of the law, to prevent crime by discouraging others, to protect the innocent. The purpose of penalties is not to reform the criminal. The penalty of the law is not supposed to be executed for the sake of personal revenge, nor to gratify the feelings of the victims or the relatives of the victim. The penalty of the law is supposed to be executed to protect the community by upholding the law. Crimes are not prosecuted as personal revenge, they are prosecuted for the sake of a community. We can forgive criminals, but the law cannot."
He also objected to capital punishment, calling it murder which is forbidden by the law of God. I answered, "Murder is the shedding of innocent blood. Some people deserve to die and for the government to take their life, it is not murder. Right after God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses He commanded Joshua to take the life, or to kill, entire communities. The reason God said was because they were wicked people. It was not murder for Joshua to take their life because they deserved to die. Murder is the shedding of innocent blood, like abortion."
Human life is not being valued when it can be taken by a person without facing capital punishment. The law which forbids murder is not being properly upheld if a person can commit murder without facing capital punishment. Murder is not being properly discouraged if it can be committed without capital punishment as the consequence. A community is not being properly protected or valued if murder can be committed without the execution of capital punishment. As long as murders are committed, it is right and just for the government to execute capital punishment. The government is obligated to do so. To do any less would be wrong and unjust.