The only reason I'm against the death penalty is in how it is applied. It tends to be more expensive than keeping someone locked up for life and there are times where innocents have been executed. The thought of a country executing an innocent person is absolutely repulsive to me.
Poll: Atheists overwhelmingly oppose the death penalty, but most Christians favor it
by Disillusioned JW 44 Replies latest social current
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StephaneLaliberte
I used to be against it, because I thought most people can be redeemed.
While I certainly believe that a lot of people are not redeemable, the concept of executing a 50 year old man for something he did when he was 18 is none sense to me.
I don't believe that any of us can claim to be the same we were 30 years ago. I don't believe that executing someone after so many years is justice.
The idea, the concept of execution makes sense to me. The implementation does not.
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StephaneLaliberte
I do not understand the high tolerance for crime among atheists
Being willing to pay for 100's of killers and serial rapists to stay in jail for the rest of their natural life so that absolutely no innocent is killed by a government that represents me, I don't see how that shows tolerance for crime. Its no tolerance for injustice.
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StephaneLaliberte
Their is a myth going around that prison sentences are to rehabilitate the criminal. [...] Some people who commit very serious crimes are beyond rehabilitation
To me, if someone committed a crime that would have been deserving of death, than, they should be considered un-redeemable and spend the rest of their lives in jail. However, the moment you know you plan to free someone from Jail in 2, 5 or 10 years, you need to seriously consider a rehabilitation plan for them, otherwise, they'll make more victims until they get caught again.
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smiddy3
I consider myself an atheist and have no problem with the death penalty when it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt about the guilt of the person charged with the crime.
Especially so, when they have killed more than one person.
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LoveUniHateExams
The problem with any punishment is, that callous criminals will commit murder, worse crimes, to keep hiding their identity, escape punishment - ok, but as you say, 'any punishment', criminals would also act that way to try and escape a prison sentence.
So I don't know why this would make jail time better than death.
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StephaneLaliberte
I consider myself an atheist and have no problem with the death penalty when it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt about the guilt of the person charged with the crime.
I feel that way to. The problem is that I have seen 12 jury all agree that someone deserved the death sentence with nothing more than circumstantial evidence.
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slimboyfat
I don’t think reintroduction of the death penalty is a good idea. We should be talking about abolishing prisons.
https://www.redpepper.org.uk/our-prison-system-is-broken-is-it-time-to-abolish-prisons-altogether/
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LoveUniHateExams
Slim, Slim, Slim, lol …
Just read your link.
It's pretty much standard leftist fare - 'prisons are bad, prisons only punish ethnic minorities and pot-smokers, the rich get away with it', blah blah blah.
The author of the article doesn't address this simple question: if we abolish prisons and someone commits a serious crime - rape, murder, terrorism, etc. - how should society punish that person?
No mention of an alternative punishment.
You could free all BAME prisoners, free all pot-smokers in jail, free all mentally-ill prisoners … and some people will still be bad enough to commit murder/rape/etc.
When someone commits a serious crime like murder, that person must be punished. The death penalty was abolished in Britain with the insistence that life would mean life. If you abolish prisons, how will serious criminals be punished?
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slimboyfat
What’s the alternative? Don’t lock people up for nonviolent crimes for a start and the prison population is reduced considerably. Then concentrate on programmes that prevent violent crime happening in the first place. Simple interventions earlier in a person’s life are far more effective than rehabilitation after harm has been done. People who are really interested in reducing violent crime are interested in measures that prevent it rather than punishing after the fact. Do all that and you are left with a small number of people who are dangerous to wider society. Such people have severe psychological problems and should be in secure mental hospitals for the safety of others and themselves. Prisons don’t prevent or cure violent crime, 200 years of prisons demonstrates that. Those who are motivated to stop violence in society are interested in effective alternatives.