Can you be Christian and Favor Death Penalty?

[J-Mann]

I've noticed that Christians will interpret different passages of the Bible differently.  Some choose to espouse "you live by the sword, you die by the sword" and some think "turn the other cheek".

I'm a Catholic and have a hard time supporting the death penalty.  However, I think there's no other option that adequately punishes a murderer (or equivalent criminal).  I would rather that those who would ordinarily face the death penalty be instead consigned to hard labor with no pay for the rest of their lives.  Let them break rocks; let them suffer the elements; let them think long and hard about their crime while they toil away for the rest of their days.  But that whole "cruel and unusual" thing comes into play here.  Usually, the alternative to the death penalty is life in prison, which isn't probably a walk in the park, but it just seems to light of a sentence to me.

These are issues that Christians must wrestle with, and they're difficult to answer.  My response is difficult and somewhat John Kerry-ish: no, I don't support the death penalty, but in lieu of chain gangs, hang 'em.