The nine commandments. Will #6 get voted off?

Question

It looks like half the country is okay with the death penalty. Does that mean that we dont need that 'thou shall not kill (murder)' ?

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/dailynews/poll010504_deathpenalty.html

Answer 1

Probably #3 about not having false idols should go.  Americans LOVE their idols.

Answer 2

Good Question. Catching people in the act. Everyone is so "anti death" and anti-killing. Because that's the moral thing to do. And while they are correct, they should also believe that all life is sacred. But murderers don't take life sacred because they kill other people. They take other people's lives away from them.

People see the death penalty as a way of getting revenge back at the life stealers (murderers) by stealing their lives and killing them. But God also says that revenge is wrong and it is wrong to hold grudges. I'm really undecided when it comes to the matter.

And I think you're just using "voted off" as a figure of speech but if you're not, they can't just take off a commandment from God.

Answer 3

I'm not religious, so I don't have to pretend to follow the ten commandments. I think the death penalty is needed for several reasons. You sound as if you are against the death penalty, but I don't see why you would be.

Answer 4

also the one about adultery needs to go.

Answer 5

Yes, if you think about it, "thou shalt not kill" could be an argument either for OR against capital punishment.

Religion aside, the death penalty needs to go, for several reasons:

1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. In the last 30 years in the U.S. alone, over 100 people have been released from death row because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. These are ALL people who were found guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt."  Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most cases. No matter how rare it is, the government should not risk executing one single innocent person.

Really, that should be reason enough for most people to oppose it. If you need more, read on:

2. Because of higher pre-trial expenses, longer trials, jury sequestration, extra expenses associated with prosecuting a DP case, separate sentencing trials, and the appeals process (which is necessary - see reason #1), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute prisoners than to imprison them for life.

3. The deterrent effect is questionable at best. Violent crime rates are actually higher in death penalty jurisdictions. This may seem counterintuitive, and there are many theories about why this is (Ted Bundy saw it as a challenge, so he chose Florida – the most active execution state at the time – to carry out his final murder spree). Personally, I think it has to do with the hypocrisy of taking a stand against murder…by killing people. The government fosters a culture of violence by saying, ‘do as I say, not as I do.’

4. There’s also an argument to be made that death is too good for the worst criminals. Let them wake up and go to bed every day of their lives in a prison cell, and think about the freedom they DON’T have, until they rot of old age. When Ted Bundy was finally arrested in 1978, he told the police officer, “I wish you had killed me.” Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (the architect of the 9/11 attacks) would love nothing better than to be put to death. In his words, "I have been looking to be a martyr [for a] long time."