Capitol Punishment
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It Is Just the Right Medicine
“Capital punishment is the infliction of the death penalty on persons convicted of a crime”. When a person kills another person, his or her common sense and mental reasoning is lost. Because of this, the murderer is no longer capable of a mentally stable life not only to himself but also to society as a whole. Killing convicted felons has been one of the most widely practiced forms of criminal punishment in the United States. Currently, the states that do no practice the death penalty are Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Wisconsin. However, for the remaining states that do practice the death penalty, it has been a topic of debate for many years. Two parties argue over its many points, including whether or not it is a fitting and adequate punishment, whether or not it acts as a deterrent to crime and whether or not it is morally wrong. These two classes of people group together as the retentionists, or the proponents, and the abolitionists, or the opponents. For the retentionists, the main reasons they are in support of the death penalty are to take revenge, to deter others, and to punish. They are most concerned with the protection of society from dangerous criminals.
Lex talionis (also known by the principle “an eye for an eye”) in my opinion is the bases of capital punishment. It is the one phrase which sums everything right up to show that the punishment fits the crime. The earliest known application of this dates back to 1750 BC in the Code of Hammurabi. A very interesting finding is in Christian theology. Has reported on Wikipidia.com, “In Christian theology the doctrine of substitutionary atonement has a similar logic, but extended to a universal scale. The idea of substitutionary atonement is that humanity (from the dawn of time to the end of time) is sinful and that these sins or wrongdoings require compensation or atonement. The Roman execution of Jesus of Nazareth is interpreted as a self-sacrifice on behalf of humanity. The key biblical texts indicate the idea of one life for many lives. As regards the substitution, Christian theology draws parallels between the crucifixion and the story of how Abraham was permitted to substitute a lamb for his son Isaac when commanded by God to make a devotional sacrifice (the lamb is understood as symbolizing Christ)”. This is interesting because christians are a big part of the people who are against capital punishment and yet there are examples of it in their litterature. People