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GatheringInfo · Apr 6, 2006, 11:15 pm

Is Capital Punishment ethical?? How do we, as individuals, define "ethical"??

Personally, I'm against Capital Punishment because there have been so many innocent people executed in the past. I've been doing some research on the topic and it's sad to think that after the executions, more facts will be discovered, proving their innocence-- through DNA a lot of times. II also have realized the fact that even if the people on death row weren't in fact executed, a lot of them were released and taken off of death row because they were found to be innocent. These people have lost years and years of their lives, sitting on death row, knowing they did not commit a crime. I'm not an expert on capital punishment and I'm not exactly sure how we should solve this debate. But, I do think that there needs to be a different system in place. There is a lot of overcrowding in jails, but how can we fix this problem without killing others?? How do people form their opinions?? I know I form my opinions based upon my own personal ethics and morals. I don't base it upon a certain religion. Everybody has an opinion... This topic is of great interest to me and I'd love to get peoples' feedback about how the feel.

Lullaby Chainer · Apr 7, 2006, 02:03 am

I'm for capital punishment..

Cause..

I dunno, really o.o jus wanted to bump a new-comer's (first?) thread. ^^;;

hm.. capital punishment is good.. cause.. uh..

well you see.. Either the wrongly accused spend a life time of prison.. or they get off with a shorter sentence of... DEATH... But than... I don't like the idea of the truley guilty getting off so easily... >.O life in prison seems more harsh than the death sentence.

tman_ndsu08 · Apr 7, 2006, 10:02 am

Quote:

Quote by: GatheringInfo

Is Capital Punishment ethical?? How do we, as individuals, define "ethical"??

Is a murderer ethical?

None that I know of.

So the only thing to do is to play down to their level and murder them back.

Cephus · Apr 7, 2006, 03:22 pm

Quote:

Quote by: tman_ndsu08

So the only thing to do is to play down to their level and murder them back.

Which is ridiculous because murder, by definition, is killing that is not sanctioned by law. Anything that the state does *MUST* be sanctioned by law, hence it cannot be murder.

Watch your terms. Shooting for an emotional reaction in this manner is dishonest.

Rave7pt0 · Apr 7, 2006, 04:21 pm

Cephus, that's dangerous -- who is "the state"? If a despot shoots someone in the face, is that alright, since he's in charge?

whoracle · Apr 7, 2006, 04:36 pm

Quote:

Quote by: tman

Is a murderer ethical?

None that I know of.

Just as an unrelated (somewhat) sidebar...and this is not aimed solely at tman - let's say a father murders (premeditatively) the murderer of his 10 year old daughter. Is he unethical? Would you say everyone has the same understanding of *ethical* that you do? I'm guessing your opinion on this would trickle up to your opinion on capital punishment.

RVonse · Apr 7, 2006, 08:00 pm

In the first place, capital punishment is uncivilized. With this issue alone, the U.S. only shares its values with the middle east and China but none of modern Europe. You would at least like to think your culture had grown past the point of violence simply for the pleasure of revenge.

But even more importantly as the OP points out, our legal system is far from perfect. With such an imperfect system as is now in place, it is cruel and inhuman to kill anyone without knowing for sure they are even guilty.

And last but not least, I do believe the moral Christians of the U.S. are complete hypocrits on this issue. Either you are pro life or you are against life. Period.

tman_ndsu08 · Apr 7, 2006, 08:34 pm

Quote:

Quote by: Cephus

Watch your terms. Shooting for an emotional reaction in this manner is dishonest.

But I wasn't being sarcastic.

I support capital punishment fully.

And I could care less if it is murder.

I'll gladly murder someone that kills one of my family members.

tman_ndsu08 · Apr 7, 2006, 08:36 pm

Quote:

Quote by: whoracle

let's say a father murders the murderer of his 10 year old daughter. Is he unethical?

Maybe, who cares?

tman_ndsu08 · Apr 7, 2006, 08:37 pm

Quote:

Quote by: RVonse

With this issue alone, the U.S. only shares its values with the middle east and China but none of modern Europe.

OH NO!

You mean the land of socialism?

Damn right we don't share their values.

Osborn F Enready · Apr 7, 2006, 10:55 pm

I only support capital punishment if we have sound laws, and sound courts. We have neither currently, so I don't support either, as of today.

GatheringInfo · Apr 7, 2006, 11:00 pm

How do you guys think capital punishment affects society??

GatheringInfo · Apr 8, 2006, 11:34 am

Capital punishment seems to cause more problems than solve them. =/

Jimmy the Pro · Apr 8, 2006, 11:43 am

Quote:

Quote by: tman_ndsu08

Is a murderer ethical?

None that I know of.

So the only thing to do is to play down to their level and murder them back.

Tman under this statement you are saying the state, the courts, and those working for both are unethical. Of course if you agree we are all unethical sonsabitches, then i guess i have no problem with your statement. :rolleyes:

Osborn F Enready · Apr 8, 2006, 12:04 pm

I think if society respects the law, as in, they can see and agree in overwhelming majority (more than 75%) that the laws are not only sound, but necessary, than society is not much affected except in the reinforcement of the soundness of the system.

I think it sucks to have anything less than a 100% support for laws, but in a nation of 300,000,000 people agreement is almost impossible on anything but basic rights, with even some disagreement there if you ask socialists.

That is why I think our nation is bound for one of three things.

*Servitude, if allowed to continue as it is now, infringing rights at random with no constitutional backing whatsoever.

*Revolt, to remove that corrupt system mentioned in the first sentence above.

or

*Fragmentation, with the union being dissolved by various states or groups of states that no longer will tolerate so much federal control over their citizens. This may be the most likely, but depending on how it happened, the most costly in blood and material.

Cephus · Apr 8, 2006, 02:42 pm

Quote:

Quote by: Rave7pt0

Cephus, that's dangerous -- who is "the state"? If a despot shoots someone in the face, is that alright, since he's in charge?

If it was written into law before he did it, it would not be murder. Whether or not it's alright is up to the people of his country to decide and depose him if they decide it's not.

tman_ndsu08 · Apr 8, 2006, 05:01 pm

Quote:

Quote by: ldmaniac

Tman under this statement you are saying the state, the courts, and those working for both are unethical.

An eye for an eye revenge and any manifesting agensts of such are never unethical.

Jimmy the Pro · Apr 8, 2006, 09:38 pm

Quote:

Quote by: tman_ndsu08

An eye for an eye revenge and any manifesting agensts of such are never unethical.

If you think killing in one instance is wrong, what makes it right to kill in another?

Osborn F Enready · Apr 9, 2006, 09:28 am

Tell Uncle Sam in your avatar to burn one and mellow out Idlmaniac.

tman_ndsu08 · Apr 9, 2006, 12:24 pm

Quote:

Quote by: ldmaniac

If you think killing in one instance is wrong, what makes it right to kill in another?

An eye for an eye.

Two wrongs make a right. Etc.

Apr 6, 2006, 11:15 pm	#1 (permalink) (top)
GatheringInfo Sedimentary Rock Location: Michigan Posts: 7	Capital Punishment Is Capital Punishment ethical?? How do we, as individuals, define "ethical"?? Personally, I'm against Capital Punishment because there have been so many innocent people executed in the past. I've been doing some research on the topic and it's sad to think that after the executions, more facts will be discovered, proving their innocence-- through DNA a lot of times. II also have realized the fact that even if the people on death row weren't in fact executed, a lot of them were released and taken off of death row because they were found to be innocent. These people have lost years and years of their lives, sitting on death row, knowing they did not commit a crime. I'm not an expert on capital punishment and I'm not exactly sure how we should solve this debate. But, I do think that there needs to be a different system in place. There is a lot of overcrowding in jails, but how can we fix this problem without killing others?? How do people form their opinions?? I know I form my opinions based upon my own personal ethics and morals. I don't base it upon a certain religion. Everybody has an opinion... This topic is of great interest to me and I'd love to get peoples' feedback about how the feel.

Apr 7, 2006, 04:21 pm	#5 (permalink) (top)
Rave7pt0 Igneous Magma Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 373	Cephus, that's dangerous -- who is "the state"? If a despot shoots someone in the face, is that alright, since he's in charge? Rave7pt0.net BlizzLink.com -- Blizzard Entertainment Tournaments and Clans

Apr 7, 2006, 10:55 pm	#11 (permalink) (top)
Osborn F Enready Principled Observer Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 13,873	I only support capital punishment if we have sound laws, and sound courts. We have neither currently, so I don't support either, as of today. Petition of Redress of Grievances: http://www.givemeliberty.org/default.htm Canadian Lawsuit Against Their National Banks: http://www.freewebs.com/classaction/ Osborn F. Enready

Apr 8, 2006, 12:04 pm	#15 (permalink) (top)
Osborn F Enready Principled Observer Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 13,873	I think if society respects the law, as in, they can see and agree in overwhelming majority (more than 75%) that the laws are not only sound, but necessary, than society is not much affected except in the reinforcement of the soundness of the system. I think it sucks to have anything less than a 100% support for laws, but in a nation of 300,000,000 people agreement is almost impossible on anything but basic rights, with even some disagreement there if you ask socialists. That is why I think our nation is bound for one of three things. Servitude, if allowed to continue as it is now, infringing rights at random with no constitutional backing whatsoever. Revolt, to remove that corrupt system mentioned in the first sentence above. or *Fragmentation, with the union being dissolved by various states or groups of states that no longer will tolerate so much federal control over their citizens. This may be the most likely, but depending on how it happened, the most costly in blood and material. Petition of Redress of Grievances: http://www.givemeliberty.org/default.htm Canadian Lawsuit Against Their National Banks: http://www.freewebs.com/classaction/ Osborn F. Enready

Apr 9, 2006, 09:28 am	#19 (permalink) (top)
Osborn F Enready Principled Observer Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 13,873	Tell Uncle Sam in your avatar to burn one and mellow out Idlmaniac. Petition of Redress of Grievances: http://www.givemeliberty.org/default.htm Canadian Lawsuit Against Their National Banks: http://www.freewebs.com/classaction/ Osborn F. Enready Last edited by Osborn F Enready; Apr 9, 2006 at 09:38 am.

Apr 7, 2006, 02:03 am	#2 (permalink) (top)
Lullaby Chainer Digital Witchcraft Posts: 3,020	I'm for capital punishment.. Cause.. I dunno, really o.o jus wanted to bump a new-comer's (first?) thread. ^^;; hm.. capital punishment is good.. cause.. uh.. well you see.. Either the wrongly accused spend a life time of prison.. or they get off with a shorter sentence of... DEATH... But than... I don't like the idea of the truley guilty getting off so easily... >.O life in prison seems more harsh than the death sentence.

Apr 7, 2006, 08:00 pm	#7 (permalink) (top)
RVonse Igneous Magma Posts: 562	In the first place, capital punishment is uncivilized. With this issue alone, the U.S. only shares its values with the middle east and China but none of modern Europe. You would at least like to think your culture had grown past the point of violence simply for the pleasure of revenge. But even more importantly as the OP points out, our legal system is far from perfect. With such an imperfect system as is now in place, it is cruel and inhuman to kill anyone without knowing for sure they are even guilty. And last but not least, I do believe the moral Christians of the U.S. are complete hypocrits on this issue. Either you are pro life or you are against life. Period.

Apr 7, 2006, 11:00 pm	#12 (permalink) (top)
GatheringInfo Sedimentary Rock Location: Michigan Posts: 7	How do you guys think capital punishment affects society??

Apr 8, 2006, 11:34 am	#13 (permalink) (top)
GatheringInfo Sedimentary Rock Location: Michigan Posts: 7	Capital punishment seems to cause more problems than solve them. =/