Opinion of this justification for the death penalty

[Mopsus]

Agree to the extent that those convicted of capital crimes, if they really want to prove that they are repentant, should be willing to follow Jesus’ example and give up their lives for the sake of reconciliation.

[Mopsus]

Agree to the extent that those convicted of capital crimes, if they really want to prove that they are repentant, should be willing to follow Jesus’ example and give up their lives for the sake of reconciliation.

It doesn't matter what they "should" do. The question is whether it's moral of an earthly judicial system to demand it of them.

Given Genesis 9:6 and Romans 13:4, I would say that the Bible implores the earthly judicial system to demand it of them.

[Mopsus]

Agree to the extent that those convicted of capital crimes, if they really want to prove that they are repentant, should be willing to follow Jesus’ example and give up their lives for the sake of reconciliation.

It doesn't matter what they "should" do. The question is whether it's moral of an earthly judicial system to demand it of them.

Given Genesis 9:6 and Romans 13:4, I would say that the Bible implores the earthly judicial system to demand it of them.

Oh, this tired talking point again. If we're going to pull gotcha prooftexts out of hats we'll both be here all day.

The literal sense of these passages prescribes an up-or-down lex talionis for murder (in the Genesis passage) or possibly even a Bloody Code mentality (in the Romans passage), conclusions so obviously contrary to both the teachings of Jesus and the practice of Rabbinic Judaism that a death penalty apologist bringing up these verses is almost as tell-tale a sign of crankishness as a conspiracy theorist bringing up the Knights Templar.

You'd think people with blue avatars would be hesitant to bring up Romans 13 in particular after Jeff Sessions's use of it last year to argue that no law is ever unjust, but we live in a cruel and degenerate age. C'est la vie.

If I can’t quote Bible verses to defend my position on the Bible, I don’t see where this conversation can go.

[Mopsus]

Well, for starters, you could make an affirmative argument for why these (and only these) verses are of dispositive relevance to this issue.

Because they're excerpts from the Noahide and Christian covenants, one of which preceded the Mosaic covenant and one of which succeeded it, pertaining to the same message: that even if a criminal can be forgiven by God and man, it is not the place of the law to mete out forgiveness, but to disburse just recompense for crime. Condemning a man to die isn't akin to condemning him to Hell; a man can lose his body but keep his soul. You may have heard that once or twice before.

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I have never met someone who supported the death penalty yet was willing to give the lethal injection. The state kills in your name, and you support it? Christians ought to know that if even one person is killed in our name, and we are silent, then their blood shall testify against us - Deuteronomy 19, Psalm 94, Lamentations 4, and Proverbs 6. Vengeance is not for us, as Romans 12:19 and Deuteronomy 32:35 tell us, but for God.

The fact that capital punishment puts blood on our hands is an argument for it, not against it. When death penalty opponents hear of some unspeakable crime, their response is "lock him up and throw away the key" - out of site, out of mind. They don't want to acknowledge that evil exists, don't want to look at it. But when the state executes someone in our name, it puts the onus on us to recognize evil, our place in preventing it, and, yes, our place in punishing it.

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We don't tend to have public executions; we don't 'see' that punishment. It's done behind closed doors. We do 'see', if we want, those who are imprisoned for life. They will always be there. We hear when they riot. We hear when they pass away. We hear when they appeal. We hear when they sometimes overturn their sentences. The death penalty is a 'once and done' punishment that desentises us to justice.

You’re kidding yourself if you think the notoriety that surrounds a prisoner sentenced to life exceeds the notoriety that surrounds a prisoner who is executed.

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You’re kidding yourself if you think the notoriety that surrounds a prisoner sentenced to life exceeds the notoriety that surrounds a prisoner who is executed.

Netflix would beg to differ.

Technically, Jeffrey Dahmer was killed in prison.

[Mopsus]

God tells the prophet Ezekiel, not one time, not two times, but at least three times: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? ... Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”

I know not your faith, but I know my own. The word of the Lord unto His prophets is law. I will answer unto Him if I have condemned a man to die, or if I am silent as he is executed. His bones shall condemn such actions, and his body shall denounce my very silence.

I think you’re confused about the kind of person that gets executed in America in 2019. We aren’t hanging pickpockets anymore. The only “turning away and living” that exists for a man who abducts, rapes, and murders a four-year-old girl consists in accepting the justice of his own execution.

[Mopsus]

God tells the prophet Ezekiel, not one time, not two times, but at least three times: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? ... Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”

I know not your faith, but I know my own. The word of the Lord unto His prophets is law. I will answer unto Him if I have condemned a man to die, or if I am silent as he is executed. His bones shall condemn such actions, and his body shall denounce my very silence.

I think you’re confused about the kind of person that gets executed in America in 2019. We aren’t hanging pickpockets anymore. The only “turning away and living” that exists for a man who abducts, rapes, and murders a four-year-old girl consists in accepting the justice of his own execution.

I'm so glad we finally figured it out in 2019.  Now we only execute the abductors of 4 year old girls who rape and murder them!

I knew there just had to be a line that God didn't really point out but that we would find anyway!

Thank you, I always seek the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when judging who does and does not deserve to be executed.

[Mopsus]

God tells the prophet Ezekiel, not one time, not two times, but at least three times: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? ... Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”

I know not your faith, but I know my own. The word of the Lord unto His prophets is law. I will answer unto Him if I have condemned a man to die, or if I am silent as he is executed. His bones shall condemn such actions, and his body shall denounce my very silence.

I think you’re confused about the kind of person that gets executed in America in 2019. We aren’t hanging pickpockets anymore. The only “turning away and living” that exists for a man who abducts, rapes, and murders a four-year-old girl consists in accepting the justice of his own execution.

I'm so glad we finally figured it out in 2019.  Now we only execute the abductors of 4 year old girls who rape and murder them!

I knew there just had to be a line that God didn't really point out but that we would find anyway!

Thank you, I always seek the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when judging who does and does not deserve to be executed.

Given the general thrust of your posts in this thread, I'm legitimately unsure whether or not you're being sarcastic.

My posts always reflect the seriousness of the topics I address myself to.