Thoughts on the death penalty?

[BlueFire]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

I'll answer that. The Old Testament frowns upon murder (hence the Commandment) but it actually suggests the death penalty (or punishment of death) for acts of Adultery, Bestiality, and yes, Murder.

The New Testament doesn't explicitly say as far as I know, and the message (Jesus' message) is mostly love and happy times.

There's a reason hardcore Islamic countries still stone people to death for having affairs and stuff; because it's in the theology. =/

I'd say it is fairly open-ended. I don't know what the Catholic (or Pope's) position is. I never really asked and the topic never came up during church. I suppose the issue depends on who you are and how you want to interpret the Bible and your faith.

The Catholic view:

In Evangelium Vitae, the Church teaches that capital punishment should be avoided unless it is the only way to defend society from the offender in question, and that with today's penal system such a situation requiring an execution is either rare or non-existent.[87] The Catechism of the Catholic Church holds a similar view

..thank you, Wikipedia.

Christians supporting the death penalty doesn't make a lot of sense to me. In my ~*~amazing Catholic upbringing~*~, it felt more like you could learn more from the New Testament than the Old Testament. Believing in the values Jesus Christ taught and supporting the death penalty.. seems like a big joke.