The Two Different Cases Regarding Capital Punishment

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The Two Different Cases Regarding Capital Punishment

Thesis : In principle a case can be made on moral grounds both supporting and

opposing capital punishment.

Two different cases can be made. One is based on justice and the nature of a

moral community. This leads to a defense of capital punishment. The second is

based on love and the nature of an ideal spiritual community. This leads to a

rejection of capital punishment.

JUSTICE AND THE NATURE OF MORAL COMMUNITY

A central principal of a just society is that every person has an equal right to

"life, liberity, and happiness." Within that, an arguement for capital

punishment forms along the following lines: some acts are so evil and so

destructive of a community that they void the right of the perpetrator to life.

A community founded on moral principals has specific requirements. The right to

belong to a community is not unconditional. The privilege of living and

pursuing the good life in society is not certain. The essential reason on which

community is built requires each citizen to honor the rightful claims of others.

The precious live in a moral community must be so highly honored that those who

do not honor the life of others void their own right to membership. Those who

violate the personhood of others, especially if this is done persistently as a

habit must pay the ultimate price. This must be done for the sake of the

community which was violated. We can debate whether some non-lethal alternative

is a suitable substitute for the death penalty. But the standard of judgment is

whether the punishment fits the crime and if it honors the nature of the moral

community.

LOVE AND AN IDEAL SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY

Christian live, is unconditional. It does not depend on the worthiness or value

of those to whom it is directed. It is persistent in seeking the good of others

regardless of whether they return the favor or even deserve to be treated well

on the basis of their own wrongdoing. An ideal community would be made up pf

free and equal citizens devoted to a balance between individual needs and the

advancement of common good. Communal life would be based on mutual love in

which equality of giving and receiving was the social practise. Everyone would

contribute to the best of ability.

What would a community based on this kind of love do with those who committed

brutal acts of terror, violence, and murder? Put negatively, it would not live

by the philosophy of "an eye for an eye,a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a

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