Capital+Punishment

12/6/10 BIG PICTURE: MAIN RULES AND CONSEQUENCES. Describe the main teachings of **The Chinese Philosophies: Confucianism and Taoism** pertinent to your issue. What are the consequences (legal, social, spiritual) when the teachings are not followed? In other words, I'm asking you to investigate whether your ethical issue is considered a public matter, with public, legal, and social consequences, or is it considered a spiritual or personal matter, with more private consequences affecting personal relationships and spiritual matters.

The founder of Confucianism preached peace, and that everyone had a role in society, and that if everyone does their role then there will be peace. There is no specific teaching that is for or against capital punishment. It has been used in countries where Confucianism is the main religion but it wasn't necessarily a religion related. In these countries capital punishment is debated very heavily, but there is not a specific verse that says it is right or wrong. Taoism teaches that capital punishment is wrong. Capital punishment has been fought against for years. Many have tried to get it abolished. A main man that tried was Emperor Li Lung-chi who ruled China for 44 years. Taoism teaches peace, and non-violence. They are against intolerance, hatred, and unnecessary violence. They believe that if someone is convicted of something then the should spend time in jail not be put to death. The believe that it is a vengeance, and that its blood lust, and therefor it is unnecessary violence. Taoist countries do execute though, they convict people and sentence them to death. Many are against it, but it has not be abolished. They believe that capital punishment violates their creed and that it distances them from the peace and harmony that are in the Tao.

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/religious-tao.html http://www.reformtaoism.org/beliefs_a-l.php

11/22/10 BIG PICTURE: MAIN RULES AND CONSEQUENCES. Describe the main teachings of **Buddhism** pertinent to your issue. What are the consequences (legal, social, spiritual) when the teachings are not followed? In other words, I'm asking you to investigate whether your ethical issue is considered a public matter, with public, legal, and social consequences, or is it considered a spiritual or personal matter, with more private consequences affecting personal relationships and spiritual matters.

The religion of Buddhism says that capital punishment is wrong, and they do teach non-violence and that no one should harm another living creature. Buddha said "If a person foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my boundless love. The more evil that comes from him, the more good will go from me." He is saying that no matter what someone has done to him he will continue to love and protect them. Buddhist say that rehabilitation is more important than punishment, but they contradict themselves. They believe in the cycle of life, and that cycle starts at birth, and if someone is sentenced to death then the person being punished and the person doing the punishment will have compromising effects on the soul. They believe that inhumane treatment to a person does not solve the crime, the only way to solve the crime is for the person to repent. Also punishing a criminal in severe ways not only hurts the criminal with it also hurts the person doing the punishment. Lastly a person can be banished from the country, and this is preferred rather than killing the criminal. There is no state that is declared Buddhist, but there are places where the majority is Buddhist and the death penalty is used. There are beliefs as to why this is so, one is that the politicians are for capital punishment because they believe that it is necessary for retribution. Also it has been enforced in these countries for many years, and they view order in society as more important than Buddha's teachings. So they believe that capital punishment is wrong but it happens where they live.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/capitalpunishment.shtml

11/15/10 BIG PICTURE: MAIN RULES AND CONSEQUENCES. Describe the main teachings of **Hinduism** pertinent to your issue. What are the consequences (legal, social, spiritual) when the teachings are not followed? In other words, I'm asking you to investigate whether your ethical issue is considered a public matter, with public, legal, and social consequences, or is it considered a spiritual or personal matter, with more private consequences affecting personal relationships and spiritual matters.

Hinduism has lines that are for and against the death penalty. There are many passages that support the death penalty and many that oppose it. There is no clear cut answer. They give the ruler or government the power to use the death penalty but the Saints do not believe in it. Gandhi said, "and eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." The religion of Hinduism opposes violence, killing, and revenge. In India the death penalty is still enforced, and there are around 100 people on death row. The number of executions are very low though. The Indian Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty should only be used in the most extreme cases, such as rape, adultery and murder. Adultery is a very big deal in Hinduism. Being married is about raising a family, and if someone is not loyal especially the woman the consequences are strict. There are more than 50 lines from scripture that talk about adultery. Hindu's believe in reforming people rather then killing them. The believe that saints have reformed criminals and the criminals themselves became saints. Hindu's are more about forgiveness and second chances than they are about punishment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/hinduethics/capitalpunishment.shtml http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001011 http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_extramarital.asp

11/8/10 capital punishment BIG PICTURE: MAIN RULES AND CONSEQUENCES. Describe the main teachings of **Islam** pertinent to your issue. What are the consequences (legal, social, spiritual) when the teachings are not followed? In other words, I'm asking you to investigate whether your ethical issue is considered a public matter, with public, legal, and social consequences, or is it considered a spiritual or personal matter, with more private consequences affecting personal relationships and spiritual matters. Islamic people believe that life is sacred, but they support the death penalty. They believe that if someone takes one life they have taken the life of everyone. Some ask how can they believe in capital punishment when they believe that life is sacred. The answer comes from the Koran, it says: Take not life, which God has made sacred, except by way of justice and law. Thus does He command you, so that you may learn wisdom" (6:151). They can only take a life if it is justified by the law. They ultimately believe that your life is in God's hands, but that you can be punishment in the real world. There are only two things that can be punished by death, and those are intentional murder and spreading mischief. When it comes to murder the victims family decides what happens to the murderer. They can decide to have them executed or to let them live. Islamic people encourage forgiveness instead of execution. Things that fall under mischief are treason, terrorism, piracy, homosexuality, rape, and adultery. There are different ways to carry out the execution. In some places they behead, while in other places they hang, use a firing squad, or stone to death. Executions are held publicly, and are a means of warning. The conviction is done by the courts, they decide if a person will be put to death or put in prison. If a person is sentenced to death it is then up to the victims family whether or not they will be executed. Muslims believe that capital punishment is the most severe punishment and push forgiveness over death. In 2005 there was a moratorium on capital punishment, but the Islamic government rejected it. Some have tried to fight it but have been unsuccessful. Capital punishment is something that has been used in the past by Muslims and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere.

http://islam.about.com/cs/law/a/c_punishment.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/capitalpunishment.shtml

10/18/10 FINE PRINT: DIVERSITY AND NUANCE. Are there different rules for different people/sects within **Christianity** regarding your ethical issue? What about differences in the way consequences are applied? **This week, concentrate on the similarities and differences between Catholics and Protestants on your topic.** Protestants have debated the issue of the death penalty for a long time. In the old testament it says that capital punishment is okay and it was used, but in the new testament Jesus preaches forgiveness and says that we should no harm others. Those who follow the new testament more than the old testament tend to be more against the death penalty. There is no clear cut answer to weather protestants support the death penalty or not, it is a debated subject. On the other hand, Catholics are sure about how they feel about the death penalty. Bishops preach that capital punishment is wrong, and how it is not okay to take someones life for killing another. Catholics believe that life is sacred, and that God is the bringer and taker of life. In the Gospels is shows that through Jesus God showed that he will forgive anyone, no matter what they have done. they believe that God will forgive those people that have done wrong so we don't have to right to kill them. They believe that the decision is up to God. Catholics see the need for imprisonment but they feel that the prison systems need to be changed so that convicts can be properly rehabilitated. They have many reasons why they oppose the death penalty that are not religious. Catholics seem to have a firm standing on the death penalty while Protestants debate the subject.

http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0195.asp

10/4/10 prompt 4: BIG PICTURE: MAIN RULES AND CONSEQUENCES. Describe the main teachings of **Christianity** pertinent to your issue. What are the consequences (legal, social, spiritual) when the teachings are not followed? In other words, I'm asking you to investigate whether your ethical issue is considered a public matter, with public, legal, and social consequences, or is it considered a spiritual or personal matter, with more private consequences affecting personal relationships and spiritual matters.

The subject of capital punishment is a very debated subject in the christian community. There are some that say its okay, and some that say its not. Those that support it say that God himself killed others for doing wrong, so its okay for us to. One example is the flood. God killed everyone that wasn't on the arc, also in the time of Moses, God killed the first born of all the Egyptians. In Genesis 9:6 it says "whoever sheds mans blood by man his blood shall be shed, for the image of God, He made man." There are many passages in the old testament where God himself killed those who had done wrong, and in Exodus 21 it states all the things that someone can do that would result in the death penalty. Those who are against the death penalty say that in the new testament it says that capital punishment is wrong and that the new testament out weighs the old testament. There are however stories in the new testament that do not support this idea. There are stories in the new testament that support the death penalty. The biggest argument for those who are against the death penalty is that one of the ten commandments is "thou shall not kill." People argue against that and say that it's okay to kill when it comes to battle, but it is wrong to murder, so the commandment is saying don't murder not don't kill. Exactly what the commandment is saying is also up for debate. Depending on how you interpret the commandment will have an influence on how you view capital punishment. The subject is something that is very debated in the Christian faith.

http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/cap-pun.html http://civilliberty.about.com/od/capitalpunishment/qt/dp_christianity.htm

9/27/10 capital punishment prompt 3: FINE PRINT: DIVERSITY AND NUANCE. Are there different rules for different people/sects within **Judaism** regarding your ethical issue? What about differences in the way consequences are applied?

Everyone is the Jewish faith was seen fairly when it came to capital punishment. Everyone that was facing the death penalty was seen by a Beth Din, which consisted of 23 people. There were certain situations were a special Beth Din (the Sanhedrin ) was required. This comprised of 71 people. Cases could only be heard in the holy land, and 40 years before the second destruction on a temple rabbi's ceased the hearing of death penalty cases. If all of the 23 people found the person guilty the person would not be sentenced to death because there cannot be a Jew in whom nobody sees the good. Very few Jews were ever sentenced to death, so few that if more than one person was sentenced to death in 70 years the court was declared murderous. The rarely executed anyone, but everyone that was part of a case that had the possibility of the death penalty was seen by the Beth Din, and those 23 people were the ones that decided weather or not that person would be executed. It was based on majority. Every case was looked at fairly and since there was so little cases were people were executed its hard to tell if certain people got treated differently. Of the people that were executed by the Jews, the only people that were treated differently were Nazi's committed of war crimes. They were sent to death by the Jews because of what the had done to the Jews. After the death penalty was abolished by the Jews, the Nazi's were the only people that got sentenced to death by the Jews.

http://www.askmoses.com/en/article/239,523177/What-is-the-Jewish-view-on-capital-punishment.html http://www.ou.org/public_affairs/article/njd_tradition_cp/

9/20/10 capital punishment prompt two: BIG PICTURE: MAIN RULES AND CONSEQUENCES. Describe the main teachings of **Judaism** pertinent to your issue. What are the consequences (legal, social, spiritual) when the teachings are not followed? In other words, I'm asking you to investigate whether your ethical issue is considered a public matter, with public, legal, and social consequences, or is it considered a spiritual or personal matter, with more private consequences affecting personal relationships and spiritual matters.

There are verses in the old testament that make it sound like Jewish people are in favor of the death penalty, but that is a common misconception. In the old testament it says things like, "A man who spills human blood, his own blood shall be spilled by man because God made man in His own Image. Genesis 9:6. It also says, "life for a life. eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth." Exodus 21:23-24. This makes it seem like capital punishment is okay, but to the Jews it isn't. The rabbi's who wrote the Talmud came up with barriers for using the death penalty that it was impossible to do it. Their main reasoning was that one of their commandments was "thou shall not kill." Also life is something that is very sacred to the Jewish people. They found an alternative way to punish criminals so that the victims and the victims family felt that they got justice. They also added procedural and evidential barriers that made enforcing the death penalty almost impossible. In 1954 Israel abolished the death penalty but they made one exception. The only person that was allowed to be sentenced to death were those that were committed of Nazi war crimes. There was a gentleman by the name of Adolf Eichman that was sentenced to death because he was convicted of being a Nazi war criminal that had direct ties to the holocaust. The Jews have very few records of people being sentenced to the death penalty. There are some verses that would make it sound like Jewish people support the death penalty but rabbi's have interpreted the Talmud and came up with barriers that make it hard to sentence someone to the death penalty. Many Jews are against the death penalty, and their past shows that. They have sentenced very few to the death penalty and those that did go were because of war crimes done against the Jewish people. >

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/jewishethics/capital.shtml

9/13/10 capital punishment Prompt one: Define and describe your topic as an ethical issue and identify the controversies and dilemmas within the issue. Seek to do general background reading to understand the main issues inherent in your topic.Identify at least two opposing positions often taken on your ethical issue, and explain two to three main arguments for each side.

Capital punishment is a subject that is very controversial, and one that is debated all over the world. Capital punishment can be traced all the way back to the 1500's. Over the next 300 years places started to abolish the death penalty. Both sides of the argument have very good points, the pro-capital punishment say that this is the only way to make sure that extremely bad criminals never hurt anyone else. They will never be released to the public and they won't be able to hurt anyone in prison. They also say that it's retribution, or in other words, an eye for an eye. Britain was able to show that when the death penalty is not in use there is more killings. They suspended the death penalty for five years and during that time the murder rate went up 125%.Capital punishment helps to keep the murder rate down.

Those that are opposed to capital punishment argue that innocent people can get executed. Also that there have been cases where someone was convicted of murder when it should have been man slaughter, and these people were executed. When a person is executed they aren't the only ones that get hurt. That person's family has to live with the fact that their loved one was put to death. The family is suffering too. Many people say that people deserve a second chance, and when someone is put to death they never have the chance to give back. They have no way of repaying their debt to society. Those who are opposed say that this is not fair. Another argument that they have is that it costs more to execute someone than it does to have them spend the rest of their days in prison. In reality this is not true, the thing that costs the most is the appeals and delays that come with someone sentenced to death. The average person spends 12 years on death row, because of their appeals. That's what costs money.

Both sides have convincing arguments as to why or why not there should capital punishment. It is debated all over the world, and the world is split with whether or not it's okay.

http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/thoughts.html