Death Penalty

Death Penalty Article

       The Death  Penalty—Why the Church Speaks a Counter-cultural Message is an article that makes an individual ask themselves  many different question on the topic of the death penalty. Some examples include “Is someone murdered your child or closest friend, what punishment would you want for the criminal? If you were simply asked your opinion about capital punishment, how would you respond? What reasons would you give for your answer?”  The topic of capital punishment is one of those issues that there are so many different perspectives that an individual may look from. 

On the topic of punishment the Catholic bishops states that , “since it involves the deliberate infliction of evil on another” may be justified. They also believe that capital punishment definitely stops that specific criminal from committing any more crimes, but there is not a solid statistic that says that capital punishment deters other criminals from committing crimes. If anything it does the opposite, for example Florida and Texas are states that still have the death penalty, but all some of the highest rates of homicides. Even though that statement was proven the Catholic bishops still consider that to be one of the three reason that capital punishment can be justified.

            The other reasons the Catholic bishops justify capital punishment is retribution and reform even though it does not clearly apply to the punishment. The heart of the Catholic bishops state that if we were to stop the death penalty would show the world that we can break the cycle of violence. They also believe “abolition of capital punishment is also a manifestation of our belief in the unique worth and dignity of each person from the moment of conception, a creature made in the image and likeness of God.” That concept is rooted to the Scripture and is consistently express in the social teachings of the Church. That Scripture is one of those things that applies to every individual, even those ones that take the lives of others. The gospel leads the Catholic bishops to realizing that they should be opposed to the death penalty, but it also makes them realize that they the society has the need to protect itself.