The Brutality of Capital Punishment :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The Brutality of Capital Punishment The use of capital penalization has been a permanent fixture in society since the earliest civilizations and continues to be used as a var. of punishment today. It has been used for various crimes ranging from the desertionof soldiers during wartime to the more heinous crimes of serial killers.However, the mere fact that this brutal form of punishment and revenge has beenthe policy of many nations in the past does not subsequently warrant itsimplementation in todays society. The death penalty is morally and sociallyun respectable, should be construed as cruel and unusual punishment since it is bothdiscriminatory and arbitrary, has no proof of acting as a deterrent, and risksthe atrocious and unacceptable injury of executing innocent people. As longas capital punishment exists in our society it will continue to spark theinjustice which it has failed to curb. Capital punishment is immoral and unethical. It does not matter whodoes the killing becau se when a life is taken by another it is al focussings wrong. Bykilling a human cosmos the state lessens the value of life and actuallycontributes to the growing sentiment in todays society that certain individualsare worth more than others. When the value of life is diminish under certaincircumstances such as the life of a murderer, what is stopping others fromcreating their own circumstances for the value of ones life such as race, class,religion, and economics. Immanual Kant, a great philosopher of ethics, came upwith the Categorical Imperative, which is a universal command or rule thatstates that society and individuals must act in such a way that you can willthat your actions become a universal law for all to follow (Palmer 265). Theremust be some set of moral and ethical standards that even the government can notsupersede, otherwise how can the state expect its citizens not to follow its ownexample. Those who support the death penalty believe, or claim to believe, thatcapita l punishment is morally and ethically acceptable. The bulk of theirevidence comes from the Old Testament which actually recommends the use ofcapital punishment for a get along of crimes. Others also quote the SixthCommandment which, in the original Hebrew reads, Thou Shall Not Commit Murder.However, these literal interpretations of selected passages from the Bible whichare often quoted place of context corrupt the compassionate attitude of Judaismand Christianity, which clearly focuses on redemption and forgiveness, and urgeshumane and effective ways of dealing with crime and violence.