Capital Punishment

Term Paper Title	Capital Punishment
# of Words	2185
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	8.74

Capital Punishment

     The use of capital punishment has been a permanent fixture in society since the earliest
civilizations and continues to be used as a form of punishment in countries today.  It has been
used for various crimes ranging from the desertion of soldiers during wartime to the more heinous
crimes of serial killers.  However, the mere fact that this brutal form of punishment and revenge
has been the policy of many nations in the past does not subsequently warrant its implementation
in today's society.  The death penalty is morally and socially unethical, should be construed as
cruel and unusual punishment since it is both discriminatory and arbitrary, has no proof of acting
as a deterrent, and risks the atrocious and unacceptable injustice of executing innocent people.
     As long as capital punishment exists in our society it will continue to spark the injustice which
it has failed to curb.  Capital punishment is immoral and unethical.  It does not matter who does
the killing because when a life is taken by another it is always wrong.  By killing a human being
the state lessens the value of life and actually contributes to the growing sentiment in today�s
society that certain individuals are worth more than others.  When the value of life is lessened
under certain circumstances such as the life of a murderer, what is stopping others from creating
their own circumstances for the value of one�s life such as race, class, religion, and economics.
Immanual Kant, a great philosopher of ethics, came up with the Categorical Imperative, which is a
universal command or rule that states that society and individuals �must act in such a way that
you can will that your actions become a universal law for all to follow� (Palmer 265).  There must
be some set of moral and ethical standards that even the government can not supersede, otherwise
how can the state expect its citizens not to follow its own example.
     Those who support the death penalty believe, or claim to believe, that capital punishment is
morally and ethically acceptable.  The bulk of their evidence comes from the Old Testament which
actually recommends the use of capital punishment for a number of crimes.  Others also quote the
Sixth Commandment which, in the original Hebrew reads, �Thou Shall Not Commit Murder.�
However, these literal interpretations of selected passages from the Bible which are often quoted
out of context corrupt the compassionate attitude of Judaism and Christianity, which clearly
focuses on redemption and forgiveness, and urges humane and effective ways of dealing with
crime and violence.  Those who use the Bible to support the death penalty are by themselves since
almost all religious groups in the United States regard executions as immoral.  They include,
American Baptist Churches USA, American Jewish Congress, California Catholic Council,
Christian reformed Church, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church in America, Mennonite General
Conference, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, Northern Ecumenical Council,
Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church of America, Southern California Ecumenical
Council, Unitarian/Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist
Church (Death Penalty Focus).
     Death penalty supporters argue that former great leaders and thinkers such as George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Immanuel Kant all supported it (Koch 324).  However,
Washington and Jefferson, two former presidents and admired men, both supported slavery as
well.  Surely, the advice of someone who clearly demonstrated a total disregard for the value of
human life cannot be considered in such an argument as capital punishment.  Immanuel Kant, a
great ethical philosopher, stated that the motives behind actions determine whether something is
moral or immoral (Palmer 271).  The motives behind the death penalty, which revolve around
revenge and the �frustration and rage of people who see that the government is not coping ...

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