Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: So question: how can Christians support the death penalty since the Prince of Peace [View all]closeupready
(29,503 posts)39. You're a Lutheran, and I'm a confirmed Catholic, and you neglected
an important addendum issued by the Vatican, that stated that in the modern world the prison system is exceedingly secure, and that state of affairs DOES render the death penalty as unacceptable. I will find the dictum/pronouncement/whatever for you.
On edit, here (from 2001):
The Holy See has consistently sought the abolition of the death penalty and his Holiness Pope John Paul II has personally and indiscriminately appealed on numerous occasions in order that such sentences should be commuted to a lesser punishment, which may offer time and incentive for the reform of the guilty, hope to the innocent and safeguard the well-being of civil society itself and of those individuals who through no choice of theirs have become deeply involved in the fate of those condemmed to death.
The Pope had most earnestly hoped and prayed that a worldwide moratorium might have been among the spiritual and moral benefits of the Great Jubilee which he proclaimed for the Year Two Thousand, so that dawn of the Third Millennium would have been remembered forever as the pivotal moment in history when the community of nations finally recognised that it now possesses the means to defend itself without recourse to punishments which are "cruel and unnecessary". This hope remains strong but it is unfulfilled, and yet there is encouragement in the growing awareness that "it is time to abolish the death penalty".
It is surely more necessary than ever that the inalienable dignity of human life be universally respected and recognised for its immeasurable value. The Holy See has engaged itself in the pursuit of the abolition of capital punishment and an integral part of the defence of human life at every stage of its development and does so in defiance of any assertion of a culture of death.
Where the death penalty is a sign of desperation, civil society is invited to assert its belief in a justice that salvages hope from the ruin of the evils which stalk our world. The universal abolition of the death penalty would be a courageous reaffirmation of the belief that humankind can be successful in dealing with criminality and of our refusal to succumb to despair before such forces, and as such it would regenerate new hope in our very humanity.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/rc_seg-st_doc_20010621_death-penalty_en.html
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
121 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
So question: how can Christians support the death penalty since the Prince of Peace [View all]
closeupready
Jan 2015
OP
You cannot call yourself a christian and expect to be taken seriously if you are pro death penalty.
onecaliberal
Jan 2015
#2
Oh really? Here's the first OP I read the morning after the last election on DU:
Bluenorthwest
Jan 2015
#93
he also said render unto cesar that which is cesars and if you commit a crime you become cesars
belzabubba333
Jan 2015
#5
I don't know about the Cesar arguement but the he accepted the death penalty is the arguement
jwirr
Jan 2015
#8
he wasnt under arrest and he wasnt being held down therefore he was capable of leaving
belzabubba333
Jan 2015
#15
he spoke in parables and yes he used taxes as an example but it could be seen as a metaphor
belzabubba333
Jan 2015
#28
Would be if the effects weren't seen in my life, opposite of a spiritualist and do understand
uponit7771
Jan 2015
#53
Everyone answers to something higher, even their own bodies... "primitive thinking" is ascribed to
uponit7771
Jan 2015
#115
was there any question of jeffery dahmer's guilt, ted bundy's , ted kazinsky's
belzabubba333
Jan 2015
#72
Does not only apply to money, basically saying keep church out of state and vice versa ...
uponit7771
Jan 2015
#45
Render on to Caesar is a metaphor that can be applied across context of government...
uponit7771
Jan 2015
#50
Most of them are being told what to think and not reading the book for themselves...
uponit7771
Jan 2015
#114
I've read it with and without the understanding of dispensations and the illumination of the
uponit7771
Jan 2015
#118
Textual criticism, and dynamic and formal translations are one of the major reasons I rarely discuss
LanternWaste
Jan 2015
#54
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that public authority has the right & duty to.
PeaceNikki
Jan 2015
#30
Super. Nah, I will leave it and your rebuttal to my statement there for the world to see.
PeaceNikki
Jan 2015
#43
Your statement still stands: and your interpretation of the doctrine is still incorrect.
pnwmom
Jan 2015
#105
Agreed. I was quoting text from Catechism of the Catholic Church. I am 100% against DP. Always.
PeaceNikki
Jan 2015
#59
There is no single hard definition of Christain. The Klu Klux Klann is Christain organization.
Agnosticsherbet
Jan 2015
#90
Yes, pointing the finger and mocking is not a valid method of critique of a anything.
Agnosticsherbet
Jan 2015
#92
Trying to explain how religious people of any religion can maintain the vast hypocrisy required to
Bluenorthwest
Jan 2015
#96
Yes, that, OR, like going from cave etchings to Van Gogh, elevating to an art form
closeupready
Jan 2015
#99
establishing a dogma will automatically generate heretics and hypocrisy and sophistry
librechik
Jan 2015
#113