Books for my course studies
I just finished writing a reflective essay for my Morality and Christians Ethics class on the death penalty. I really thought this concluding paragraph was very powerful, especially the last line. I don’t know where you stand on the death penalty but this is my summary of the research…
As citizens of a free country that holds the value of life in its written framework it is unbelievable that people must fight to abolish the death penalty. What started as a punishment to deter others from crime, to bring “justice” to the community, and safety to all has shifted greatly. Our country has the means to keep society safe with modern facilities, the studies have proven that execution is not a deterrent to crime, and “justice” has been misconstrued and is now “revenge”. The alternative is to leave this “retributive” type of punishment behind and to mature for the sake of the common good to “restorative justice” rebuilding the relationships broken from the crimes and restoring the injured communities. Rwanda has proven that this concept can be accomplished. Not every offender wants to change their lives and for those who do not our society has the ability to keep them locked away from the rest of the innocent people for a lifetime, at a more inexpensive rate, than executing them. The restorative justice and offender victim mediation has proven that healing is possible. It is better for our society to become a community that values the life and human dignity of every soul, even those who have committed the gravest of sins. If our society punishes to bring true justice, rebuilding the damaged communities, hearts, and people, then our society will begin to build a culture of life instead of a culture of death. Jesus Christ came to this world to teach us how to love. He loved us so much that he accepted execution on the cross for our crimes. If he had not done this would anyone of us had a chance at “rehabilitation” or redemption? No one else should suffer the same fate as Jesus Christ, he taught us how to own our sins, understand the gravity of them, ask for forgiveness, change lives, and give forgiveness to others.
The death policy is no longer needed Jesus Christ abolished the need for it over 2000 years ago.
