The return of capital punishment is badly needed in Canada

[blackbird]

Almost every day we hear of horrendous murders being committed in Canada.  If the offenders are caught, they know they will be sentenced to a certain number of years.  They also know they may only serve half of their sentence and then get out on parole.  This is not protecting Canadians.  This also makes victims of the relatives who must constantly live with what was done to their loved one as they see the offender get off relatively lightly and then walk free.  They often are required to re-live the horror because they must go to parole board hearings, sometimes, repeatedly and hear the whole thing over and over.

We need the return of capital punishment for first degree murder.  The situation is out of control and there is no fear of the consequences.

Canada needs to put the safety of the public ahead of everything else and stop trying to invent some kind of rights for criminals and forget the victims.

Also the justice system should be greatly speeded up to get the trials done expeditiously.

Edited September 4 by blackbird

[DUI_Offender]

58 minutes ago, blackbird said:

Almost every day we hear of horrendous murders being committed in Canada. 

The Canadian homicide rate is 3 times lower than the American rate, in spite of America having the death penalty.

58 minutes ago, blackbird said:

 

If the offenders are caught, they know they will be sentenced to a certain number of years.  They also know they may only serve half of their sentence and then get out on parole. 

The death penalty is not a deterrant to murder. The USA is a perfect example to this.

58 minutes ago, blackbird said:

This is not protecting Canadians.  This also makes victims of the relatives who must constantly live with what was done to their loved one as they see the offender get off relatively lightly and then walk free.  They often are required to re-live the horror because they must go to parole board hearings, sometimes, repeatedly and hear the whole thing over and over.

The same thing happens in the United States, when the inmate appeals or tries to overturn their death sentence. 

58 minutes ago, blackbird said:

We need the return of capital punishment for first degree murder.  The situation is out of control and there is no fear of the consequences.

Ths situation is not "out of control." The crime rate peaked in 1991 in North America, and declined until the mid 2010s. Currently, the crime rate is about what it was at in the late 1990s. And of course, Canada has a much lower violent crime rate than the USA.  Winnipeg, the most violent city in Canada, would barely make the top 100 most violent cities list in America. 

58 minutes ago, blackbird said:

Canada needs to put the safety of the public ahead of everything else and stop trying to invent some kind of rights for criminals and forget the victims, which make no sense.

We copied much of our law from the UK, which is a relatively safe country. We should be looking looking towards Europe, where the justice system is superior to America, which does not work. We need to focus on what is best for society.

58 minutes ago, blackbird said:

Also the justice system should be greatly speeded up to get the trials done expeditiously.

That would affect due process, and the right to a fair trial for the accused. There ahve been countless examples of people being wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not do. 

Edited September 4 by DUI_Offender

[blackbird]

5 hours ago, DUI_Offender said:

The Canadian homicide rate is 3 times lower than the American rate, in spite of America having the death penalty.

The death penalty is not a deterrant to murder. The USA is a perfect example to this.

The same thing happens in the United States, when the inmate appeals or tries to overturn their death sentence. 

Ths situation is not "out of control." The crime rate peaked in 1991 in North America, and declined until the mid 2010s. Currently, the crime rate is about what it was at in the late 1990s. And of course, Canada has a much lower violent crime rate than the USA.  Winnipeg, the most violent city in Canada, would barely make the top 100 most violent cities list in America. 

We copied much of our law from the UK, which is a relatively safe country. We should be looking looking towards Europe, where the justice system is superior to America, which does not work. We need to focus on what is best for society.

That would affect due process, and the right to a fair trial for the accused. There ahve been countless examples of people being wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not do. 

Why try to use the U.S. as some kind of guide?  The U.S. is a free-for-all with gun ownership and shootings.  People are often legally allowed to own assault weapons, and many carry hand-guns as a normal part of life.  They have something like 40,000 murders per year in the U.S.  So it is ridiculous to compare Canada to the U.S.  Of course there is no comparison.  But we don't want any murders in Canada.

The best way to discourage murder is to make sure the would-be killers know the penalty will be the death sentence.  This would have an impact on the thinking of many.  The public would feel much safer.  

When I said faster trials, I never said denying justice.  But we know the justice system is a disaster in Canada now.  Trials are often dragged out for years.  Cases have been dismissed on the basis of them taking too long.  There is a right to a speedy trial.  Just get it done.

The cost of keeping convicted murderers locked up could be immensely reduced as well.  It costs millions of dollars to keep prisoners in prisons for years.  Another reason for improving the justice system making it more efficient and faster.

We should not be looking for soft-on-crime excuses to escape doing the right thing, which is capital punishment for first degree murder. 

Keeping them in prison is not only expensive, but it endangers others who could become a target.

This soft-on-crime approach just encourages organized crime and random murders.  There are shootings daily by organized criminals.  The other day a gunman shot countless bullets into a home and recorded it on his camera and played it on social media.  No fear at all.  Criminals have the upper hand.

Let's do the right thing and put some fear into the system.  Of course it will have an impact on potential murderers as well.  

As for mistakes, today there are very accurate ways of determining guilt or innocence with DNA.  The science has improved greatly. That has become a very accurate tool.  Liberals and left need to wake up and get on with it and stop being soft-on-crime.  Canadians are fed up with it.

The law now offers MAID which kills over 10,000 people per year.  Why no concern about that?  What is the bleeding heart for convicted murderers for?  Capital punishment would be given to a relatively few compared with the number of deaths in the failing health care system and MAID.  Concern for murderers is irrational.  What about the killing of 80,000 or 100,000 pre-born babies a year?  I don't see people weeping for them.  There would be relatively few executions for first degree murder.  Look at all the overdose deaths per year in B.C. alone.  Capital punishment would likely be given to a very small number.  It could discourage murders and save lives.  Even if it doesn't there are good reasons why it should be done.  The principle that justice will be done will bring comfort to the whole population of Canada.

A report says there may be more deaths of people in need of proper health care than from drug overdoses.  Yet, we don't see people too concerned about that.  Why all the sympathy for a relatively small number of murderers receiving capital punishment while thousands may be dying per year because of a failing health care system?  Get your priorities straight!

Assisted suicide is wrong, but capital punishment for first degree murder is not.  Wake up and stop the misguided sympathy for serious criminals.  Many people are dying who shouldn't be in our failed public health care system.  That is something to be concerned about; not the fictitious rights of murderers.

Edited September 4 by blackbird

[Guest]

8 hours ago, blackbird said:

We need the return of capital punishment for first degree murder.  The situation is out of control and there is no fear of the consequences.

Capital punishment doesn't provide a fear of consequences.

It rather, simply provides with a heavy handed consequence to a serious crime.

It doesn't improve anything.

Maybe make the process cheaper? Someone correct me if wrong, but would like to assume it is far cheaper to kill someone than to let them stay rent free for life.

[DUI_Offender]

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

Why try to use the U.S. as some kind of guide?  The U.S. is a free-for-all with gun ownership and shootings.  People are often legally allowed to own assault weapons, and many carry hand-guns as a normal part of life.  They have something like 40,000 murders per year in the U.S.  So it is ridiculous to compare Canada to the U.S.  Of course there is no comparison.  But we don't want any murders in Canada.

 

No that bad of a comparison,  considering Canada has the second highest gun ownership rate of all developed countries.

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

The best way to discourage murder is to make sure the would-be killers know the penalty will be the death sentence.  This would have an impact on the thinking of many.  The public would feel much safer.  

Where do you come up with is garbage? The USA executes more inmates combined than any other Western democracy, and still has the highest violent crime rate.

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

When I said faster trials, I never said denying justice.  But we know the justice system is a disaster in Canada now. 

Its exponentially superior than the American system. 

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

The cost of keeping convicted murderers locked up could be immensely reduced as well.  It costs millions of dollars to keep prisoners in prisons for years.  Another reason for improving the justice system making it more efficient and faster.

It costs more to execute an inmate than keeping them in prison for life.

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

We should not be looking for soft-on-crime excuses to escape doing the right thing, which is capital punishment for first degree murder. 

So we should copy the US system, which is one of the Worst in the Western hemisphere?

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

Keeping them in prison is not only expensive, but it endangers others who could become a target.

Its more expensive to house a death row inmate.

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

This soft-on-crime approach just encourages organized crime and random murders. 

That must explain why Canada and Europe have a far lower per-capita violent crime rate than the US.

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

 

Let's do the right thing and put some fear into the system.  Of course it will have an impact on potential murderers as well.  

That as been tried, and failed. This is precisely why the US is reforming its criminal justice laws and sentences. 

3 hours ago, blackbird said:

As for mistakes, today there are very accurate ways of determining guilt or innocence with DNA.  The science has improved greatly. 

It still happens as frequently as before DNA.

[Five of swords]

9 hours ago, DUI_Offender said:

The Canadian homicide rate is 3 times lower than the American rate, in spite of America having the death penalty.

The death penalty is not a deterrant to murder. The USA is a perfect example to this.

The same thing happens in the United States, when the inmate appeals or tries to overturn their death sentence. 

Ths situation is not "out of control." The crime rate peaked in 1991 in North America, and declined until the mid 2010s. Currently, the crime rate is about what it was at in the late 1990s. And of course, Canada has a much lower violent crime rate than the USA.  Winnipeg, the most violent city in Canada, would barely make the top 100 most violent cities list in America. 

We copied much of our law from the UK, which is a relatively safe country. We should be looking looking towards Europe, where the justice system is superior to America, which does not work. We need to focus on what is best for society.

That would affect due process, and the right to a fair trial for the accused. There ahve been countless examples of people being wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not do. 

The murder rate in the usa is higher than Canada because there are more blacks and mestizos in the usa. Immigration will probably equalize that, however, and you can expect murder rates in canada to skyrocket.

 

Dude, of course the death penalty is a deterrent. There are plenty of people I would kill if I was immortal or something. I would even take over countries. And institute a death penalty in them. Lol death is ultimately the ONLY deterrent. Because the only thing you can truly force another person to do is die.

 

It is ultimately more important to solve the issue of crime than to comply with your arbitrary ethics around 'due process'. And in fact, a lot of your data around crime is just fake. Police chiefs have an incentive to just lie and pretend they are lowering crime when they are not...and they have no incentive to tell the truth. Even murders can just go unreported...especially in the most black parts of the city. Crime dropped in the 90s in the usa because literally about 1/4 of all black youth were kept in prison, lol. Today, black people are regularly released from prison even if hey murdered multiple people. So there is no way the crime rate is not insanely high...you just don't know about it.

[DUI_Offender]

51 minutes ago, Five of swords said:

The murder rate in the usa is higher than Canada because there are more blacks and mestizos in the usa. Immigration will probably equalize that, however, and you can expect murder rates in canada to skyrocket.

 

Dude, of course the death penalty is a deterrent. There are plenty of people I would kill if I was immortal or something. I would even take over countries. And institute a death penalty in them. Lol death is ultimately the ONLY deterrent. Because the only thing you can truly force another person to do is die.

 

It is ultimately more important to solve the issue of crime than to comply with your arbitrary ethics around 'due process'. And in fact, a lot of your data around crime is just fake. Police chiefs have an incentive to just lie and pretend they are lowering crime when they are not...and they have no incentive to tell the truth. Even murders can just go unreported...especially in the most black parts of the city. Crime dropped in the 90s in the usa because literally about 1/4 of all black youth were kept in prison, lol. Today, black people are regularly released from prison even if hey murdered multiple people. So there is no way the crime rate is not insanely high...you just don't know about it.

I read two sentences of what you said, and realized "damn this dude adds nothing to the forum except hatred of Jews, and should be blocked.

 

 

Edited September 4 by DUI_Offender

[blackbird]

56 minutes ago, DUI_Offender said:

No that bad of a comparison,  considering Canada has the second highest gun ownership rate of all developed countries.

Nonsense.  I heard the U.S. has 400 million guns, which is far more guns than the population including all children.  In the U.S. people are legally allowed to carry guns, some concealed handguns.  There is no comparison between Canada and the U.S.  Americans have a gun culture. The right to carry or own guns is even in the American Constitution. 

Canadians do not have such a right.  It is a privilege to own a gun in Canada and hand guns have been outlawed.  

The number of murders in the U.S. is extremely high, like about 40,000 a year.  So that has nothing to do whether we should or shouldn't bring back capital punishment.  That is an American problem.  It is a result of mental problems and the wide proliferation of guns in the U.S.

1 hour ago, DUI_Offender said:

5 hours ago, blackbird said:

The best way to discourage murder is to make sure the would-be killers know the penalty will be the death sentence.  This would have an impact on the thinking of many.  The public would feel much safer.  

Where do you come up with is garbage? The USA executes more inmates combined than any other Western democracy, and still has the highest violent crime rate.

Of course it has the highest violent crime rate.  That is because the reasons for it are a different culture than Canada.  They have a gun culture as I already explained.  It is right to carry guns and there are 400 million guns in America.  Guns everywhere.  Of course there is going to be a lot of murders and there are.

However, it is just common sense that in Canada, capital punishment for first degree murder would make potential murderers think twice.  It would discourage a lot of murderers.  Just common sense for anyone who can think.

1 hour ago, DUI_Offender said:

5 hours ago, blackbird said:

When I said faster trials, I never said denying justice.  But we know the justice system is a disaster in Canada now. 

Its exponentially superior than the American system. 

Are you an American?  The justice system in Canada has serious problems.  One of the main problems is it takes too long to complete court cases.  There is a serious shortage of judges and staff.  The system is too slow overall.  This has nothing to do with the American system.  Canada doesn't run its justice system according to how the U.S. operates its system.  We are a separate country.  

1 hour ago, DUI_Offender said:

It costs more to execute an inmate than keeping them in prison for life.

Pure nonsense.   Just change the system.  Drastically speed up the trial system and reach a conviction.  If guilty the convicted murder could be given MAID in the prison at a very small cost.   It costs millions of dollars to keep a person in prison for life (until he gets parole).  So it is obvious millions of dollars would be saved.   How much do you think it costs to give MAID to someone?  A few hundred dollars most likely.  Lots of people could be hired to give MAID to convicted murderers at a very low cost.  It is painless and an easy way to go. 

1 hour ago, DUI_Offender said:

It still happens as frequently as before DNA.

More nonsense.   It would be easy to write a law to have a panel of highly educated experts to create a system that uses the latest scientific methods such as DNA and ensure there is no error.  If there is any doubt at all the experts could commute the sentence to life in prison with no parole.  But if there is clearly no doubt after a thorough review by an impartial panel of experts, then MAID should be carried out.  That is no longer an excuse to not have capital punishment.  

[DUI_Offender]

21 minutes ago, blackbird said:

Nonsense.  I heard the U.S. has 400 million guns, which is far more guns than the population including all children.  In the U.S. people are legally allowed to carry guns, some concealed handguns.  There is no comparison between Canada and the U.S.  Americans have a gun culture. The right to carry or own guns is even in the American Constitution. 

Canadians do not have such a right.  It is a privilege to own a gun in Canada and hand guns have been outlawed.  

The number of murders in the U.S. is extremely high, like about 40,000 a year.  So that has nothing to do whether we should or shouldn't bring back capital punishment.  That is an American problem.  It is a result of mental problems and the wide proliferation of guns in the U.S.

Of course it has the highest violent crime rate.  That is because the reasons for it are a different culture than Canada.  They have a gun culture as I already explained.  It is right to carry guns and there are 400 million guns in America.  Guns everywhere.  Of course there is going to be a lot of murders and there are.

However, it is just common sense that in Canada, capital punishment for first degree murder would make potential murderers think twice.  It would discourage a lot of murderers.  Just common sense for anyone who can think.

Are you an American?  The justice system in Canada has serious problems.  One of the main problems is it takes too long to complete court cases.  There is a serious shortage of judges and staff.  The system is too slow overall.  This has nothing to do with the American system.  Canada doesn't run its justice system according to how the U.S. operates its system.  We are a separate country.  

Pure nonsense.   Just change the system.  Drastically speed up the trial system and reach a conviction.  If guilty the convicted murder could be given MAID in the prison at a very small cost.   It costs millions of dollars to keep a person in prison for life (until he gets parole).  So it is obvious millions of dollars would be saved.   How much do you think it costs to give MAID to someone?  A few hundred dollars most likely.  Lots of people could be hired to give MAID to convicted murderers at a very low cost.  It is painless and an easy way to go. 

More nonsense.   It would be easy to write a law to have a panel of highly educated experts to create a system that uses the latest scientific methods such as DNA and ensure there is no error.  If there is any doubt at all the experts could commute the sentence to life in prison with no parole.  But if there is clearly no doubt after a thorough review by an impartial panel of experts, then MAID should be carried out.  That is no longer an excuse to not have capital punishment.  

Here you are going on about how Canada should essentially copy the US justice system, and when i point out how bad that system is, you resort to saying "we are two different cultures, so we cant be compared!" 

LOL.

[Five of swords]

1 hour ago, DUI_Offender said:

I read two sentences of what you said, and realized "damn this dude adds nothing to the forum except hatred of Jews, and should be blocked.

 

 

That is exactly the sort of counterargument I expected you to make.

[blackbird]

Another random stabbing in Vancouver today apparently.  These murderers have no fear.

[August1991]

On 9/3/2024 at 11:12 PM, blackbird said:

....

We need the return of capital punishment for first degree murder.  The situation is out of control and there is no fear of the consequences.

....

Blackbird, you misundertstand.

Capital punishment - chop off the head - would make many "progressive" people unhappy.

We must change the Canadian law so that the State has more options - without death.

For example, the Crown could say: "You will never, ever have a parole hearing." OR "We can talk in 20 years."

This would make our criminal system cheaper.

 

[August1991]

IOW, the death penalty puts a, uh, trump card in the Crown's hand.

[CITIZEN_2015]

On 9/3/2024 at 11:12 PM, blackbird said:

Almost every day we hear of horrendous murders being committed in Canada.  If the offenders are caught, they know they will be sentenced to a certain number of years.  They also know they may only serve half of their sentence and then get out on parole.  This is not protecting Canadians.  This also makes victims of the relatives who must constantly live with what was done to their loved one as they see the offender get off relatively lightly and then walk free.  They often are required to re-live the horror because they must go to parole board hearings, sometimes, repeatedly and hear the whole thing over and over.

We need the return of capital punishment for first degree murder.  The situation is out of control and there is no fear of the consequences.

Canada needs to put the safety of the public ahead of everything else and stop trying to invent some kind of rights for criminals and forget the victims.

Also the justice system should be greatly speeded up to get the trials done expeditiously.

I have been asking for the return of Capital Punishment on this very forum and elsewhere for over a decade with over a dozen solid reasons and blame Mulroney for not having one today, however, coming this from a Christian believer totally surprised me. I thought you believed in forgiveness and turning the other chick!!!

[Aristides]

On 9/3/2024 at 8:12 PM, blackbird said:

Almost every day we hear of horrendous murders being committed in Canada.  If the offenders are caught, they know they will be sentenced to a certain number of years.  They also know they may only serve half of their sentence and then get out on parole.  This is not protecting Canadians.  This also makes victims of the relatives who must constantly live with what was done to their loved one as they see the offender get off relatively lightly and then walk free.  They often are required to re-live the horror because they must go to parole board hearings, sometimes, repeatedly and hear the whole thing over and over.

We need the return of capital punishment for first degree murder.  The situation is out of control and there is no fear of the consequences.

Canada needs to put the safety of the public ahead of everything else and stop trying to invent some kind of rights for criminals and forget the victims.

Also the justice system should be greatly speeded up to get the trials done expeditiously.

No we don't but we do need to make life actually mean life for 1st degree murder, particularly for multiple killings.

 

  Maintain the death penalty in both law and practice

  Abolished in practice (no execution in over 10 years and under a moratorium)

  Abolished in law, except in exceptional circumstances, such as war

  Completely abolished

Edited September 6 by Aristides

[CdnFox]

I would happily put a bullet in the head of a Rapist or child molester or murderer and I would sleep like a baby after doing it. I have no moral hesitation at all for that kind of person.

But giving the state the power of life or death over its citizens is just a bad idea.

Think about it. These are the people that screwed up the borders, screwed up the arrive can app, hell these people couldn't even figure out how to sell marijuana profitably. They froze people's bank accounts when they brought a bouncy castle to a protest.

And you're going to give them the ability to kill people they don't like? That would probably end pretty well right?

I do believe that we should bring back true life in prison and I do believe that we should allow consecutive sentencing so if somebody gets life in Prison four times for killing four people then they have to serve all four sentences not just one. In other words you go in, they throw away the key. Death by old age, no hearings, no chance for parole. It's still a horrible fate, it's still gets them out of our society permanently and lets the victims heal, but if evidence does turn up that the state lied and the person is actually innocent as we have seen many times then at least it's still possible to give them some of their life back and compensate them as much as possible. 

 

[DUI_Offender]

1 hour ago, CITIZEN_2015 said:

I have been asking for the return of Capital Punishment on this very forum and elsewhere for over a decade with over a dozen solid reasons and blame Mulroney for not having one today, however, coming this from a Christian believer totally surprised me. I thought you believed in forgiveness and turning the other chick!!!

Why do you blame Brian Mulroney for Canada not having the death penalty?

[DUI_Offender]

38 minutes ago, Aristides said:

 

 

 

  Maintain the death penalty in both law and practice

  Abolished in practice (no execution in over 10 years and under a moratorium)

  Abolished in law, except in exceptional circumstances, such as war

  Completely abolished

This map proves that the correlation between capital punishment and lower crime rates does not exist.

[CITIZEN_2015]

7 minutes ago, DUI_Offender said:

Why do you blame Brian Mulroney for Canada not having the death penalty?

The last vote on Capital Punishment in the House of Commons was when he was the Prime Minister and a majority Conservative government and though he didn't force his MPs to vote against it but he campaigned hard against it and stood tall during the voting to show others that he is dead against it. He had a majority and he could just witness it happening with not interfering. 

[DUI_Offender]

16 minutes ago, CITIZEN_2015 said:

The last vote on Capital Punishment in the House of Commons was when he was the Prime Minister and a majority Conservative government and though he didn't force his MPs to vote against it but he campaigned hard against it and stood tall during the voting to show others that he is dead against it. He had a majority and he could just witness it happening with not interfering. 

Good for him. 

I just gained a bit of respect for Mr.Mulroney.

[CdnFox]

12 minutes ago, DUI_Offender said:

Good for him. 

I just gained a bit of respect for Mr.Mulroney.

side note, mulroney was actually a very principled man. He stood up for a lot of things when other people wouldn't. He truly believed the GST would save Canada even though it was wildly unpopular and he was right. He shut down the residential schools and the program. You did a number of other things that people would look at today and say well that was a principled thing to do. We remember him for the corruption but he had his good points too

[Aristides]

In 2022, the five countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States.^[8]

[CdnFox]

31 minutes ago, Aristides said:

In 2022, the five countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States.^[8]

??? And ?

What kind of weird argument is that? 

[CITIZEN_2015]

11 hours ago, CdnFox said:

side note, mulroney was actually a very principled man. He stood up for a lot of things when other people wouldn't. He truly believed the GST would save Canada even though it was wildly unpopular and he was right. He shut down the residential schools and the program. You did a number of other things that people would look at today and say well that was a principled thing to do. We remember him for the corruption but he had his good points too

I think his most important legacy was the Free Trade. It really helped Canada in spite of fierce opposition by many including Liberals and John Turner.

[blackbird]

On 9/5/2024 at 5:15 PM, CITIZEN_2015 said:

I have been asking for the return of Capital Punishment on this very forum and elsewhere for over a decade with over a dozen solid reasons and blame Mulroney for not having one today, however, coming this from a Christian believer totally surprised me. I thought you believed in forgiveness and turning the other chick!!!

It is not the business of individual Christians to exercise capital punishment.  But it is the responsibility of the state to enforce laws and justice for evil doers.  The state must maintain law and order.  Capital punishment sends a clear message.

 quote

Old Testament Examples

Throughout the Old Testament we find many cases in which God commands the use of capital punishment. We see this first with the acts of God Himself. God was involved, either directly or indirectly, in the taking of life as a punishment for the nation of Israel or for those who threatened or harmed Israel.

One example is the flood of Noah in Genesis 6-8. God destroyed all human and animal life except that which was on the ark. Another example is Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19), where God destroyed the two cities because of the heinous sin of the inhabitants. In the time of Moses, God took the lives of the Egyptians’ first-born sons (Exod. 11) and destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exod. 14). There were also punishments such as the punishment at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13-14) or the rebellion of Korah (Num. 16) against the Jews wandering in the wilderness.

The Old Testament is replete with references and examples of God taking life. In a sense, God used capital punishment to deal with Israel’s sins and the sins of the nations surrounding Israel.

The Old Testament also teaches that God instituted capital punishment in the Jewish law code. In fact, the principle of capital punishment even precedes the Old Testament law code. According to Genesis 9:6, capital punishment is based upon a belief in the sanctity of life. It says, “Whoever sheds man’s blood by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man.”

The Mosaic Law set forth numerous offenses that were punishable by death. The first was murder. In Exodus 21, God commanded capital punishment for murderers. Premeditated murder (or what the Old Testament described as “lying in wait”) was punishable by death. A second offense punishable by death was involvement in the occult (Exod. 22; Lev. 20; Deut 18-19). This included sorcery, divination, acting as a medium, and sacrificing to false gods. Third, capital punishment was to be used against perpetrators of sexual sins such as rape, incest, or homosexual practice.

Within this Old Testament theocracy, capital punishment was extended beyond murder to cover various offenses. While the death penalty for these offenses was limited to this particular dispensation of revelation, notice that the principle in Genesis 9:6 is not tied to the theocracy. Instead, the principle of Lex Talionis (a life for a life) is tied to the creation order. Capital punishment is warranted due to the sanctity of life. Even before we turn to the New Testament, we find this universally binding principle that precedes the Old Testament law code.

New Testament Principles

Some Christians believe that capital punishment does not apply to the New Testament and church age.

First we must acknowledge that God gave the principle of capital punishment even before the institution of the Old Testament law code. In Genesis 9:6 we read that “Whoever sheds man’s blood by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man.” Capital punishment was instituted by God because humans are created in the image of God. The principle is not rooted in the Old Testament theocracy, but rather in the creation order. It is a much broader biblical principle that carries into the New Testament.

Even so, some Christians argue that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus seems to be arguing against capital punishment. But is He?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is not arguing against the principle of a life for a life. Rather He is speaking to the issue of our personal desire for vengeance. He is not denying the power and responsibility of the government. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is speaking to individual Christians. He is telling Christians that they should not try to replace the power of the government. Jesus does not deny the power and authority of government, but rather He calls individual Christians to love their enemies and turn the other cheek.

Some have said that Jesus set aside capital punishment in John 8 when He did not call for the woman caught in adultery to be stoned. But remember the context. The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus between the Roman law and the Mosaic law. If He said that they should stone her, He would break the Roman law. If He refused to allow them to stone her, He would break the Mosaic law (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22). Jesus’ answer avoided the conflict: He said that he who was without sin should cast the first stone. Since He did teach that a stone be thrown (John 8:7), this is not an abolition of the death penalty.

In other places in the New Testament we see the principle of capital punishment being reinforced. Romans 13:1-7, for example, teaches that human government is ordained by God and that the civil magistrate is a minister of God. We are to obey government for we are taught that government does not bear the sword in vain. The fact that the Apostle Paul used the image of the sword further supports the idea that capital punishment was to be used by government in the New Testament age as well. Rather than abolish the idea of the death penalty, Paul uses the emblem of the Roman sword to reinforce the idea of capital punishment. The New Testament did not abolish the death penalty; it reinforced the principle of capital punishment.  unquote

Capital Punishment: A Christian View and Biblical Perspective (probe.org)

Edited September 7 by blackbird