To be appalled by the latest execution in the US.

I think it depends on the crime! Child murderers, The likes of Ian Huntley, the Yorkshire ripper, Ian Brady, Mira Hindley, to name a few, should have been hung, we have no deterrent in this country-life doesn’t mean life! carrying a knife, 3 yrs hard labour! None of this “I have a cat”therefore human rights! you get more of a sentence for stealing the queen’s money than murder!

A question to all pro legal exuction people.
Would you stand there and exucate the person with your own hands ?
I myself would not be able to regardless of their crime therefore I cannot support legal execution .

Chocolate loving gran wrote: "I lack enthusiasm for the pick- a- text school of Bible quotations wheeled out to support the individual's world view."

They were doing it in Palestine under Roman occupation during the lifetime of Jesus. There were some Jews who quoted the rules of the oldest bits of the OT but who forgot about suffering individuals.
The parable of the Good Samaritan shows what Jesus thought---the individual's needs before rules and traditions"

PuddyCat

Deuteronomy 19:21

"You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."

Matthew 5:38

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth."

Exodus 21:24

"eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot"

Leviticus 24:20

"Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again."

Matthew 5:38-39 ESV / 495 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Romans 12:17-19 ESV / 361 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Proverbs 20:22 ESV / 144 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 ESV / 137 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
Romans 12:19 ESV / 122 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Leviticus 19:18 ESV / 107 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Matthew 5:43-44 ESV / 81 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Luke 6:27 ESV / 64 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Matthew 5:44 ESV / 64 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Romans 12:21 ESV / 61 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
ESV / 361 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
I could go on.......
I'm not even religious and I know this.... It seems to be the Old Testament versus the New Testament....Progress? Evolution?

We agree Caleo- which is why I lack enthusiasm for the pick- a- text school of Bible quotations wheeled out to support the individual's world view.

"As I said before the Old Testament quotes are not for the guidance of Christians, but of Jews."

There are Christians AND Jews who are aware that God has changed over the centuries,. The OT prophets are more advanced than the earlier rule makers of Leviticus. Jesus of Nazareth is arguably more enlightened even than the OT prophets.

My sympathies lie with the victims and the families and friends of the victims. The consequences of a
Murder ripple out like a stone thrown into a pond and go through the generations. I am upset and angry that the real life guinea Pigs , the thousands of innocent animals that were subjected to this form of death, had to suffer so very much before it was used in this execution.

Utterly barbaric. There have been so many miscarriages of justice that capital punishment of any kind can no longer be considered legally and morally safe. The PO saga underlines this.

Whitewavemark2

We got rid of the death sentence in Europe decades ago -it is a civilised and entirely sensible decision by every country. The only countries who still retain the death sentence are Belarus and Russia - so that should tell us a great deal.

With regard to USA - looks at their gun laws they have it so wrong in both these areas.

I absolutely understand the emotional turmoil behind some of the most heinous murders but I am content with the existing law.

I agree.. I don't think there is any justification for causing the death of another person.. and the situation in Gaza exemplifies this.. on a much bigger scale it is still revenge

I think we are too soft by far on taking a life in this country, the victim and families do not get justice, but in my eyes whatever happens nothing or no one replaces that loss, the horror of your loved ones last minutes. I would not want to go on, but I would have to,
That execution was horrific, how can people do that to another? I also think to spend your life incarcerated serves no purpose. The most humane way would be lethal injection or similar to what Dignitas do. I know however I couldn’t perform that task. I think the justice system in America is unfair and cruel if you have no money for a good defence.

Murderers seem to have no problem deciding who should live and who should die, so I don’t have any problem with the state doing the same thing so you are happy to have a mindset on the same level as a murderer Pammie1…… beggars belief

Ooh Puddycat - you are being very naughty here. The quote from Matthew follows the phrase you quote with " but I tell you...turn the other cheek".
As I said before the Old Testament quotes are not for the guidance of Christians, but of Jews. Those stipulations were to temper other contemporary laws and limit retribution.
Oh goodness , now I'm off on my arcane knowledge of the world in OT times.. anyone want to know about the laws of Sennacherib? No - I thought not.
Anyway, as I say, and as others have said, ancient Hebrew texts are not needed as a base for justice in a modern Christian/ secular society.

But as people have pointed out if it was a deterrent some American states should be the safest place on Earth.

Grandma70s

No country that has the death penalty can call itself civilised. We are not superhuman; we can’t decree who should live and who should die.

Murderers seem to have no problem deciding who should live and who should die, so I don’t have any problem with the state doing the same thing as a result of due process, but I think more needs to be done to find a more humane method of execution.

In this country some of the sentencing is a joke, and there’s always the possibility of release somewhere down the line if it’s decided that human or other rights have been breached - or that they are now a reformed character. There is no real deterrent and as a result life is cheap to some.

He got what he deserved. Tough if it wasn’t a gentle death - nor were the deaths of his victims.
I m truly shocked at what seems like totally inhumane feelings GSM
Completely agree coco execution by the state is murder and every bit as bad
You know what you can do with your eye for an eye puddycat if you want to quote religion (which by the way is the biggest murderer) how about thou shalt not kill or is thou shalt not kill unless the victim is a sinner ! What shall we follow next, stoning anyone accused of adultery or driving nails in thieves hands as the die on the cross Why should we just pick one biblical punishment use them all !!!

Horrendous and unbelievable that any human being can accept this as the correct approach

WonderfulLife

No we do not have a good justice system. Paedophiles are set free to live where they have carried out their disgusting habits. Thieves get a slap on their hands and get told to be good boys and girls. There are not enough prisons to house all these law breakers so they are let go to commit other crimes. If a murderer was executed then he cannot do it again. All child abusers should face the death penalty and before that put them in the stocks in the middle of the city with a card around their neck stating child rapist and watch everyone in that city take their revenge out on him. This is what we need to ensure criminals are afraid of being caught and put in cosy little cells where they can play snooker, watch TV etc. etc. We used to have the Cat o nine tails, bring that back as well.

I am not afraid to say that I hope all rapists and murderers in prisons die a slow, painful death. If it had happened to your children I wonder what you would feel like.

Wow! So angry and bitter, @WonderfulLife. You advocate death penalty for multiple crimes and misdemeanours - are you so pure?

I pity you.

petra

I do agree with the death penalty but I could never vote for it all the while we have corrupt/ incompetent police officers.

Which has just reminded me of what happened to poor Sarah Everard

Execution by the state puts all of us on the same level as the murderer. Do we really want to use the Bible as our guide to lawmaking in the 21st century?

Deuteronomy 19:21

"You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."

Matthew 5:38

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth."

Exodus 21:24

"eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot"

Leviticus 24:20

"Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again."

Germanshepherdsmum

How many innocent people are executed in the USA?

So far there have been 196 people who were executed that have since been exonerated. There will be more as the various law charities go through past cases. Shocking !

Germanshepherdsmum

He got what he deserved. Tough if it wasn’t a gentle death - nor were the deaths of his victims.

It was one victim. All murders are horrible. This case was tried by jury and they sentenced him to life imprisonment. A judge overturned this sentence in Tennessee . Because of this it is now illegal for a judge to do this. All death sentences are immoral. Many who have been sentenced to death have been innocent. Many on death row are innocent. They just can’t afford a reliable defense because they are poor. This is one of the many reasons the death penalty is wrong. Thou shalt not kill is one of the Ten Commandments. Sadly, this is often ignored. Ironic is that those that are against abortion are those that support the death penalty.

henetha

Yes, absolute sympathy for the victims, of course. But it doesn't alter the fact that the death penalty is wrong, and this one seems particularly barbaric.

This. Also some murderers should be locked up for life.

I really can't get my head around state sanctioned murder.

I've seen a few true crime shows where the families of the murdered victim request that they don't want the death penalty.

It doesn't work either. Pierrepont, the famous British hangman felt that it was not a deterrent and I guess he should know

Germanshepherdsmum

How many innocent people are executed in the USA?

I have no idea, but one is one too many. I'm definitely in the group that would advocate that ten guilty go free rather than one innocent is executed. If I was the family of a victim I'm sure my perception would reverse, but that wouldn't make the adjustment either right or moral.

How many innocent people are executed in the USA?