MagiDragon Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 wow, you two have almost 3 whole pages of just the two of you arguing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burnsspivey Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 [quote name='Eremite' date='Mar 21 2005, 03:27 PM'] You got some bad information. It is wrong to kill a baby because they are innocent, not because they are human. While human life is very important into the equation, it is not an absolute factor. [/quote] Ah, so we should always not kill the innocent. So how does this jibe with your assertion of the death penalty which has, in fact, caused innocent people to die? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burnsspivey Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 [quote name='toledo_jesus' date='Mar 21 2005, 03:40 PM'] we have some common ground here. Catholics we should have a [i]consistent[/i] ethic of life. that means abortion is wrong, euthanasia is wrong, and the death penalty should be used as self-defense, say when a psychopath just kills without remorse and has given no indication that he will stop. As far as restoring justice goes I think we should simply make it a matter of safety and leave justice out of it. Too easy to insert our own interpretation of justice. Much easier to agree that something is dangerous. Killing juveniles is especially heinous. The problem is that humans have their own sense of justice, and it's based on feelings. It feels fair to kill somebody just cause they committed a crime, and it feels fair to kill your child because you don't want him or her, and it feels fair to end the suffering of a sick person because you tell yourself you wouldn't want to live that way. Doesn't make it so. There's a fierce satisfaction in revenge. When we dress revenge up as justice it's not a good thing. [/quote] Excellent points. I'm not sure how I feel about killing in self-defense being equated to giving the death penalty to sociopaths, but it's hard to argue with the survival instinct. I also agree that the death penalty is most often used as a retributive device. I know people who argue that it is (or should be) primarily a deterrent, but I highly disagree with this assessment. We seem to find it hard to get away from 'an eye for an eye'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eremite Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 [quote] So how does this jibe with your assertion of the death penalty which has, in fact, caused innocent people to die?[/quote] This is, obviously, one of the major flaws with the modern death penalty, and is one factor among many why many people seek its abolition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paphnutius Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Just throwing this out there, but I heard a good quote from a retreat master: "Forgiveness is giving up your right to see justice enacted." As far as I know, the lex talonis was fulfilled when Christ said love your enemy. No moral arguement here, just some thoughts to reflect on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now