How Are Pro Life People For The Death Penalty?

[LinaSt.Cecilia2772]

Okay this is one thing i've noticed about alot of politicians and people. Alot of them say they are pro life, but they are ALL FOR the death penalty. Aren't people who are pro life supposed to keep the sacredness of human life no matter what age they are and no matter what crimes they have or havent committed? This makes absolutely no sense to me what so ever. I believe that if you are pro life, you are against both abortion and the death penalty. Not just one, which is mainly abortion. I sometimes even see practicing Catholics have this mind set, when they clearly state that they are pro life. Me being a practicing Catholic, i am against both, and it's beyond me why people think that the death penalty is right. A person on death row has the same amount of life as an unborn baby does. Plain and Simple. No matter what crimes they have committed, they are still human life, and we should respect that as much as we do unborn human life.

[MissScripture]

http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=44875

[Lil Red]

first, abortion and death penalty are not on equal footing. the Popes and bishops have said so.

second, the Church does provide recourse to the death penalty:
[quote]2266 The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people's rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party.67

2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."68[/quote]

do you think all countries/societies are as 'civilized' as the U.S. is?

[LinaSt.Cecilia2772]

yay im not the only one who thinks this. i like totally didn't see that topic. hahaha thanks

[dairygirl4u2c]

just because abortion is a lot worse than the death penalty doesn't mean that at a fundamental level, both should respect life. all too often all ya hear is that they aren't equal, or that teh CC use to teach that it's permissible to use death penalty for revenge, etc. ya almost never hear people actuallly try to justify on its face why the death penalty should be used more liberally. ya dont hear it cause there's really no chrisitan arguments that could be made.
of course we have to use it to protect peop[le if execution is the only way. very rare
we still have to protect llife, all life. the death penalty liberally is about revenge. it's unchrisitian, pure and simple.

[CatherineM]

I don't have the strength for this debate right now.

[Jesus_lol]

In today's system the death penalty is entirely unnecessary, and thus immoral. there is no need to kill a violent offender to keep them from hurting society, our jails are strong enough to hold them as long as the courts feel is necessary. It is also much more expensive to pursue death penalty. thus leaving the only valid reason for retaining the death penalty being for the purposes of revenge.

[Selah]

[quote name='CatherineM' timestamp='1303172009' post='2229967']
I don't have the strength for this debate right now.
[/quote]


Rest up Hope you're feeling okay <3

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='Jesus_lol' timestamp='1303173640' post='2229983']
In today's system the death penalty is entirely unnecessary, and thus immoral. there is no need to kill a violent offender to keep them from hurting society, our jails are strong enough to hold them as long as the courts feel is necessary. It is also much more expensive to pursue death penalty. thus leaving the only valid reason for retaining the death penalty being for the purposes of revenge.
[/quote]

Revenge? Whatever can you mean? Killing a murderer restores the karmic balance, see? [url="http://www.theonion.com/articles/everything-better-now-in-oklahoma-city,3451/"]Everything Better Now In Oklahoma City[/url]

~Sternhauser

[LinaSt.Cecilia2772]

[quote name='CatherineM' timestamp='1303172009' post='2229967']
I don't have the strength for this debate right now.
[/quote]

I apologize if i was offensive in any way to anyone who reads this topic of debate. It's just something that bothers me because i respect all life whether its an unborn baby or a person on death row.
I honestly and truly apologize if i was harsh in my opinion.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='LinaSt.Cecilia2772' timestamp='1303179814' post='2230018']
I apologize if i was offensive in any way to anyone who reads this topic of debate. It's just something that bothers me because i respect all life whether its an unborn baby or a person on death row.
I honestly and truly apologize if i was harsh in my opinion.
[/quote]
no it wasn't....CatherineM just got out of the hospital, and usually she's really good about jumping in these debates. that's probably all she meant

[LinaSt.Cecilia2772]

[quote name='Lil Red' timestamp='1303179893' post='2230019']
no it wasn't....CatherineM just got out of the hospital, and usually she's really good about jumping in these debates. that's probably all she meant
[/quote]


ohhhh i seee. well that makes sense now. Thanks for letting me know, and i'll be praying for her! =)

[havok579257]

how about in america and all advanced countries the death penalty should not be used.

the church allows for the death penalty in RARE instances when the government can not properly contain a prisoner and keep them from being a danger to society. i imagine there are numerous 3rd world countries which does not have the same means as america to contain prisoners.

although i agree with you. i am against the death penalty also because every life is sacred and by killing someone you are taking away the chance they might have in the future to turn towards God and achieve salvation.

[MIKolbe]

I would not say that I am FOR the death penalty, but I understand and respectfully submit there is 'room', in Catholic teaching, for its use. That said, I would agree with J-LOL that in today's society it is not needed; though I must admit that, properly disposed, the death penalty's ultimate aim is to protect life.

[Winchester]

Yes, prison is a wonderful safe place where no one is hurt. They're actually opening daycare centers in them because criminals stop hurting people.

Or, perhaps, we do not consider criminals and prison guards to be society.

[MIKolbe]

wow, that makes less sense than men in the kitchen.

[CatherineM]

In US history, there have been 16,000 executions. Of those, only 30 were of a white man convicted of killing a minority. Florida has never executed a white man for killing a black man. Prosecutors have the sole authority on who will face the death penalty, and in death penalty states, only 2% of prosecutors are members of a minority group.

If the system has a built in racial bias, we should not support it.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='CatherineM' timestamp='1303223928' post='2230167']
In US history, there have been 16,000 executions. Of those, only 30 were of a white man convicted of killing a minority. Florida has never executed a white man for killing a black man. Prosecutors have the sole authority on who will face the death penalty, and in death penalty states, only 2% of prosecutors are members of a minority group.

If the system has a built in racial bias, we should not support it.
[/quote]
good point.

[AudreyGrace]

I'm anti-death penalty because like J-lol said, we have the means to keep violent offenders away from the public and because it can be far more expensive to pursue the death penalty. However, I am pro- "if it makes you sin, cut it off" for prisoners. Example: child molesters? ... Can you spell C-A-S-T-R-A-T-E ?

edit: spelling

Edited April 19, 2011 by AudreyGrace

[Lil Red]

[quote name='AudreyGrace' timestamp='1303229277' post='2230199']
I'm anti-death penalty because like J-lol said, we have the means to keep violent offenders away from the public and because it can be far more expensive to pursue the death penalty. However, I am pro- "if it makes you sin, cut it off" for prisoners. Example: child molesters? ... Can you spell C-A-S-T-R-A-T-E ?

edit: spelling
[/quote]
well, unfortunately, you'd be wrong. i brought this up, maybe a year or two ago...and was promptly shot down. sorry.