Do you think The death penalty Is Right?

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nbcrusader said:


God also taught that the penalty for murder is death. I understand it is the only law that is mentioned in all five books of the Pentatuch. Jesus merely acknowledges the penalty.

Jesus never suggested that there should be no consequences to our behavior.
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You must not say that. It is not so.

You must not say these things, NBC Crusader.

You must not pretend to know the will of God.

You like your knowledge, but you must know not to pretend to know the will of God. You must not say that "God also taught that the penalty for murder is death" when you do not know the will of God, as none of us do.
 
And another thing (for Bible quoters)...

You must not pretend that your interpretation of the Bible is literal fact.

You must not twist the words of the Bible to suit your own agenda.

You must not use the Bible to justify killing.
 
financeguy said:


You must not say that. It is not so.

You must not say these things, NBC Crusader.

You must not pretend to know the will of God.

You like your knowledge, but you must know not to pretend to know the will of God. You must not say that "God also taught that the penalty for murder is death" when you do not know the will of God, as none of us do.
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And who are ou to say such things?

These are statements from Scripture. When multiple statements tie together, we get a clearer picture of what GOd intends. This has nothing to do with the will of God, but the commands of God.
 
Human intrepretations of the will of God are imperfect. One must not quote scripture to justify one's his own political viewpoints. You presented your opinion as factual. Intrepretations of scripture should be presented with caveats. This is important, surely?
 
nbcrusader said:


And who are ou to say such things?

These are statements from Scripture. When multiple statements tie together, we get a clearer picture of what GOd intends. This has nothing to do with the will of God, but the commands of God.
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I have yet to see anything except an out-of-context "live by the sword die by the sword" which says God is OK with murder as punishment. My mind, is, however, open.

"Thou shalt not kill"
 
I am against the deathpenalty because i don`t want to sacrifice a innocent human to satisfy my need for revenge.
 
Personally, I find it more important to make sure that no innocent person gets executed by mistake, than to make sure that the people who do deserve to die do so. The system is run by imperfect human beings and is therefore imperfect, and I wouldn't trust it to deal out life and death.
 
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financeguy said:
Human intrepretations of the will of God are imperfect. One must not quote scripture to justify one's his own political viewpoints. You presented your opinion as factual. Intrepretations of scripture should be presented with caveats. This is important, surely?
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Deal with all Scripture for what it says, whether you agree with it or not.

No one claims to know the mind of God, but He has given us Scripture to live by. Don't ignore it because it doesn't match what you want.
 
nbcrusader said:


Deal with all Scripture for what it says, whether you agree with it or not.

No one claims to know the mind of God, but He has given us Scripture to live by. Don't ignore it because it doesn't match what you want.
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and don't trust it too much either. all reading is interpretation, all reading is influenced by cultural prejudices. langage does not carry a single authoritarian message, rather, words can say many different meanings simultaneously.

your interpretations are your own, and as such they can be precious and valuable and sources of great strenght and solace.

but they are still totally your own.

there are valid readings and poor readings, but there is no single correct reading.
 
I agree, anyone can come up with their own interpretation and that can be problematic. But even the strictest possible interpretation of the New Testament is relatively benign compared to other Holy Books. I don't fear Christian fundamentalists in the least, it's other types of fundamentalists we need to worry about.
 
i worry about all fundamentalists. the inability to see only black and white in a world of gorgeous grey is scary.

right now, it does seem as if the islamist militants are the scariest, but in another time, the christians were pretty freaking scary too. and they may one day be again.
 
I fear those that kill abortion doctors, who justify wars by saying "god" is on their side, I fear those who ban or discriminate fellow human beings because they don't fit in their box, I fear those that claim the tsunami was punishment from "god", I fear those that justify any kind of violence in the name of "god".
 
I'm speaking of strict fundamentalists. Find justification for killing abortion doctors, starting wars, banning human beings, attributung natural disasters to God's wrath in the New Testament and we're on the same page. It certainly doesn't say how and when to beat your wife and kill the infidel.
 
drhark said:
I'm speaking of strict fundamentalists. Find justification for killing abortion doctors, starting wars, banning human beings, attributung natural disasters to God's wrath in the New Testament and we're on the same page.
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Why does it have to be in the NT. People find justification in the Bible for all these things. So now we're narrowing it down to how and where the interpretation works?
 
I was taught the New Testament was the new deal. The Old Testament is the Word of God and is to be studied but the New Testament is the overriding authority when there is conflict. Jesus' and the apostles teachings were often in conflict with the Old Testament
 
drhark said:
I was taught the New Testament was the new deal. The Old Testament is the Word of God and is to be studied but the New Testament is the overriding authority when there is conflict. Jesus' and the apostles teachings were often in conflict with the Old Testament
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Yes that would be my understanding also. Although I can think of one issue - divorce - where Jesus' teachings appear to be actually stricter than the Old Testament.
 
I think that if murderers are aware of the consequences of their actions beforehand then they simply brought it upon themselves and the state - or anyone else for that matter - cannot be held responsible for the execution of the death penalty.

In the end it all comes down to common sense - which in the end isn't really so common. :huh:
 
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drhark said:
I'm not comfortable with the idea of executing a possibly innocent person. I'm also not comfortable with sending a possibly innocent person to prison for life. Our justice system isn't perfect. Supposedly it costs more to the taxpayers to execute a prisoner than to keep him or her alive. But should cost be a consideration when you're dealing with matters of life and death? Discuss. I don't have a firm opinion on capital punishment, a lot of questions remain. I don't take issue with either side.

I do know that Jesus doesn't have much to do with the argument. Jesus sought to affect human hearts and souls, not government policy. Jesus actually did get the death penalty, which was allowed for in His faith, Judaism. He happened to be innocent (well, maybe not. To those who didn't believe He was the Son of God, He was commiting blasphemy), so I'm sure He had a problem with the charges against Him, but he forgave those who killed Him.
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Interesting points. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have executions. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have murders. We would have a flawless justice system. Total Utopia. I don't like capital punishment, especially the cases where the accused murderer is innocent. I also don't like it when disturbing murderers go unpunished, and I feel for the families that live with the pain and agony over losing a loved one over a vicious crime. Where does that leave me? I clearly believe in defending the innocent, and the possibly innocent, but those who are guilty should pay for their crimes one way or another.

I think repeated murderers, terrorists, and double/multi-murderers - if proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but are not legally insane - are vile and inhumane, and deserve a severe punishment, whether it be a lifelong maximum security prison or lethal injection. I don't think that a single murder case is enough for an execution.
 
Whoever said that man can not interpret scripture is correct, that is why God has called a prophet to reveal his will to all man through a prophet, and to interpret the scriptures not of man, but of God. Of course man can interpret scripture but that is the reason thee are 50,000 churches out thee, because everbody has a diffrent interpretation.
 
I dont believe that a gift as significant as life, can be removed whenever we say so. It's not our gift, and those who conciously choose to fill God's shoes, to make such decisions, be it on your head.
 
cardosino said:
I have yet to see anything except an out-of-context "live by the sword die by the sword" which says God is OK with murder as punishment. My mind, is, however, open.

"Thou shalt not kill"
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It is only "out of context" if you choose to ignore God's other statements on the subject.
 
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