CAPITAL PUNISHMENT:
THE DEATH PENALTY
Topics covered in this page are:
In the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) the death penalty was required
for a wide range of offenses. In the following passages from the King James
Version of the Bible, Jehovah required the state to execute a person:
- for murder: Gen 9:6 states: Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by
man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. See
also Exodus 21:20, Leviticus 24:17 and 24:21, Numbers 35:16 and Deuteronomy
17:6. Exodus 21:20 requires the death penalty for a slave owner who beats his
slave to death. However, if the injured slave lives for a while, and then
dies of the beating, the owner is not punished.
- for adultery: Leviticus 20:10 states: And the man that
committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth
adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall
surely be put to death. See also Deuteronomy 22:22
- for incest: Leviticus 20:11 states: And the man that lieth
with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them
shall surely be put to death... See also Leviticus 20, verses 12 and 14.
Verse 17 prescribe excommunication for incest with one's sister or
step-sister.
- for temple prostitution Leviticus 20:13 states:
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have
committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death.... This
verse is often incorrectly interpreted to refer to
homosexuality. See also Deuteronomy 22:24. Both verses refer to temple
prostitution which was a common religious practice in the tribes
surrounding the Israelites.
- for bestiality Leviticus 20:15 states: And if a man lie with a
beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if
a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the
woman, and the beast.... See also Exodus 22:19.
- for sexual activity before marriage Deuteronomy 22:13-21
concludes: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her
father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that
she die...".. Note that this applied only to women who had been presented
as virgins and could be proven to have engaged in intercourse before being
engaged or married. There appears to have been no penalty for men for
pre-marital sexual activity.
- for being seduced if engaged Deuteronomy 22:23-24 states: If a
damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in
the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate
of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die. Note
that this applied only to engaged women. Her fiancee could (in some cases)
have sexual access to her, but no other man was permitted to engage in
such activity as soon as she became engaged. There appears to have been no
penalty for engaged men who seduced women.
- for rape of an engaged woman Deuteronomy 22:25 states: But if
a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie
with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die. A man who
raped a single woman who was not engaged would only have to marry her and
give 50 shekels of silver to her father.
- for black magic Exodus 22:18 states: Thou shalt not suffer a
witch to live.. This is a mistranslation. The passage has nothing to do
with Wicca or other forms of Neo-paganism, which
are the only types of Witchcraft that are practiced today. The original
Hebrew word is usually translated "sorceress" in other versions of the
Bible. A more accurate phrase would be "women who engage in black magic by
spoken curses". Again, men are left off the hook.
- for practicing another religion Exodus 22:20 states:
He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be
utterly destroyed. See also Deuteronomy 13:1, and Numbers 25:1-15.
- for kidnapping Exodus 21:16 states: And he that stealeth a
man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put
to death. See also Deuteronomy 24:7.
- for prostitution Leviticus 21:9 states: And the daughter of
any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her
father: she shall be burnt with fire.
- for human sacrifice Leviticus 20:2-5 states: Whosoever....
giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death.
To "give ones seed to Molech" means to ritually sacrifice one's child to
a foreign God.
- for cursing parents Exodus 21:15 states: And he that curseth
his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. See also
Leviticus 20:9. The exact meaning of the key Hebrew word is ambiguous; it
might mean to curse or blaspheme, or to degrade or shame.
- for abusing parents Exodus 21:17 states: And he that smiteth
his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
- for careless handling of an animal Exodus 21:29 states: But if
the ox .....hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his
owner also shall be put to death.
- for a stranger entering the temple Numbers 1:51 states (in part):
...when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and
the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. See also Numbers
3:10, 18:7 and 17:13.
- for stubbornness and rebellion Deuteronomy 21:18-21 states: If
a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of
his father, or the voice of his mother.....all the men of his city shall
stone him with stones, that he die..... Because of the ambiguities in
some of the words used in the original text, the death penalty might not
have been required in this case.
- for blasphemy Leviticus 24:16 states: And he that blasphemeth
the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death. Blasphemy was
defined as uttering the name of Jehovah while cursing.
- for desecrating the Sabbath Exodus 35:2 states: ...but on the
seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD:
whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Numbers 15:32-36
described a man who was executed because he gathered wood on the Sabbath.
- for ignoring the decision of a priest or judge Deuteronomy 17:12
states: And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken
unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or
unto the judge, even that man shall die....
- for perjury Deuteronomy 19:15-21 states in part (with reference
to a murder trial) ....if the
witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his
brother.... That is, a perjurer would himself be killed.
Committing any of the above crimes required the state to kill the guilty
person(s). They were either stoned to death, impaled or burned alive.
Witnesses who testified at the trial would often participate in the killing.
God also killed individuals for other activities:
- for wickedness In Genesis 6, God was disappointed at the
wickedness and evil acts of mankind. He sent the flood in Genesis 7:6 which
killed every man, woman, child, infant, new-born and animal, except for
those who were in Noah's ark. The exact nature of the wickedness is not
defined. God also killed Er in Genesis 38:8 for some unknown form of
wickedness.
- for being abusive to strangers In Genesis 18:20, God had heard
that the people of Sodom were wicked and evil. He sent some angels there, who
confirmed the stories. In Genesis 19:24, God demolished Sodom and all of
its men, women, children, infants, new-born, plants and animals, except for
Lot's family. The crime of the people of Sodom has been interpreted by some
to be homosexual rape. But it was clearly lack of hospitality to strangers,
as seen in Jesus' comments in Matthew 10:14-15 and Luke 10:7. This is
confirmed in Ezekeiel 16:48-50.
- for being excessively curious In Genesis 19:17, the angels told
Lot to: ....Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou
in all the plain; escape to the mountain.... Lot's wife looked back. God
killed her and turned her into a pillar of salt.
- for practicing birth control Onan was required by Jewish law to
marry his brother's widow and have a male child who would be considered
the brother's heir. He didn't want to do this, and so practiced an elementary
form of birth control (coitus interruptus). God killed him. This was first
interpreted by the Church as punishment for a sexual sin: avoiding pregnancy
through the use of a birth control technique. Later, in spite of all evidence
to the contrary, the Church said it was masturbation. "Onanism" became a
synonym for auto-eroticism. Recent Biblical scholars interpret his crime as
refusal to follow Jewish custom and provide an heir.
- for lying about Church donations Acts 5:1 to 11 describe how a
couple, Ananias and Sapphira sold an piece of real estate. They gave part of
the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full proceeds from the sale.
Peter interpreted their act as lying to the Holy Ghost. God killed Ananias
on the spot. Three hours later, Sapphira repeated the lie to Peter. He
cursed her and God killed her immediately. Members of the church were
understandably terrified.
The Christian Scriptures (New Testament) do not contain codes of law
which govern the death penalty. However there were many references to capital
punishment which indicate that the Hebrew Scripture's codes were still being
applied during the 1st century CE:
- Mark 14:62: Jesus was accused of blasphemy. The high priest
asked Jesus Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?. Jesus
replied I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand
of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Matthew 26:64 and
Luke 22:70 contradict Mark's account; they record Jesus as sidestepping
the question. However, Christ was still found guilty of blasphemy.
- John 8:3 - 8:11 describes an adulteress who was scheduled for
stoning. Jesus told her executioners He that is without sin among you,
let him first cast a stone at her. This passage has often been quoted
to indicate Jesus' opposition to the death penalty. However, this
passage is apparently a Christian forgery; it is not present in the
oldest manuscripts of the Gospel of John, but was added later by unknown
person(s).
- Acts 6:8-7:60 Stephen was found guilty of blasphemy and stoned
to death.
- Canada does not have a death penalty. The most serious sentence is
life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Public
opinion polls show that over 70% of the adult population would like to
see a return of hanging for first degree murder. The Roman Catholic Church
and liberal churches wish to continue the present status; conservative
churches are overwhelmingly in favor of a return to capital punishment.
- In the United States, capital punishment was banned until 1976 when the
Supreme Court authorized its resumption. Imposition of the death penalty is
decided by each state. As of the end of 1992, Alaska, District of Columbia,
Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York,
North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin did not
have capital punishment. The remaining 36 states did. In 1995-August, New
York state reinstated the death penalty. Approximately 250 inmates have
been killed since executions were resumed in 1976; about 30 prisoners are
currently killed annually.
- Relatively few other developed countries in the world impose the death
penalty.
- The Bible Some people feel Christians are no longer bound by the
legal codes of the Hebrew Scriptures, and that the death penalty is no longer
required. Since the Bible was written, as we became more tolerant, we
eliminated the death penalty for pre-marital sex, practicing a different
religion, prostitution, blasphemy, rebellious teenagers, etc. We should
eliminate it for murder as well. Abolitionists quote Jesus' treatment of the
adulteress as support for their position. (That passage is probably a
forgery)
- Affect on society Some feel that permitting premeditated murder is
totally unacceptable, even if done by the state. Capital punishment might
lower the value of human life as seen by the general population and brutalize
society.
- Deterrence The death penalty has been shown to be ineffective
in the reduction of the homicide rate
- Cost The costs to the state of funding endless appeals by
convicted murderers would more than pay for their permanent incarceration.
- Value of human life Human life has intrinsic value, even if a
person has murdered another.
- Unfairness The poor and racial minorities are over-represented
among those executed. One pilot study of over 2 dozen convicted criminals on
death row found that all had been so seriously abused during childhood
that they probably all suffered from brain damage.
- Chance of Error Many convicted murderers are later found innocent,
and have been pardoned. It is impossible to pardon a corpse.
- Horror Capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment.
The last two references are particularly interesting. The former
claims that Canadian and French data show that ending the death penalty
lowers the homicide rate. The latter claims the opposite.
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