Does this quote condone capital punishment as a morally acceptable form of sentence? Capital punishment is still used in 58 countries in both law and practice. There are 35 countries that can issue the death penalty but have not done so for at least 10 years and a further 9 countries that retain the punishment for exceptional circumstances (1). 95 countries have actively abolished the death penalty, however is this more of a result of recent social pressures and expectations?
In Exodus 21 there are many explanations regarding punishment, and it clearly details that if one man takes another mans life, then he should be put to death himself '… if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.' (Exodus 21:14). So is it morally acceptable to commit a crime against those who have committed a crime? The next article I looked at (2) was a news report saying that the step-father of baby P was scolded in jail by another in-mate. The in-mate in question is now cheered and applauded in the jail and the comment to this article at the bottom of the webpage seems to be mostly in favor of the actions of the in-mate.
So what is your opinion; is the death penalty morally acceptable for those who have murdered intentionally? Should we be celebrating the actions of the In-mate? If yes to both questions why do you think our country doesn’t practice the death penalty?
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_capital_punishment_by_nation (Part of Wiki Project; Human Rights and Death [B graded])
(2) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250715/Baby-Ps-stepfather-scalded-napalm-attack.html
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