Quote: (04-19-2014 02:20 PM)soup Wrote:
I'm surprised more pro-lifers aren't also against the death penalty.
A lot of them believe that life and death should be in god's hands, not man's.
When viewed logically, there is no hypocrisy whatsoever between the two postions. A murderer receives due process with a jury of his peers and, if found guilty, he receives a punishment for committing a heinous crime.
An unborn baby (1) receives no due process and (2) is completely innocent of any crime. Enough said.
Quote: (04-19-2014 02:37 PM)soup Wrote:
"Eye for an eye" isn't religious. It's Hamurabi's code. Ancient. It promotes vengeance and vendettas, and didn't do a good job of prevent people from committing crimes.
Jesus actually said "turn the other cheek" which is the opposite (and a little too far in the opposite direction because I don't believe people should just "take it")
If you really want to take care of the problem of premeditated murder, you might want to look at the systemic causes of homicide. Go deeper.
Again, a completely different result is reached when applying logic and history. An eye-for-an-eye has absolutely nothing to do with vengeance. It is simple equity, meaning that you reap exactly what you sow. What is more fair than a criminal receiving as punishment exactly what he exacted upon his victim?
That form of punishment also satisfies the victim and his family. As a result, there is no need for a personal vendetta once justice is satisfied, because the criminal justice system has worked. Moreover, the criminal's family has no reason to retaliate because the State exacted the penalty, not the victim.
You took Jesus' command to "turn the other cheek" waaaay out of context. Obviously, he meant not to respond to personal slights. He did not mean to stand by while a criminal brutally rapes or murders a loved-one. This has been the common meaning of that command for thousands of years.
It is interesting that the common meaning of such basic precepts spanning thousands of years of civilization are now not only questioned but also actively undermined by distorting their obvious historical meanings, just to comply with modern politically correct dictates. If people want a debate, they should at least acknowledge the historical underpinnings and commonly understood meanings of these concepts, which are literally thousands of years old.