Why are there atheists that support the death penalty when it is against humanity?

Question

As atheists (* well most) we know that this life we have now is all we have got. And after that we are wormfood

So why would an atheist support killing someone, when they know that there is no afterlife?

(At least Christians and other religions think that there is an afterlife so that there are not really ending that person's life for ever, in their belief)

Also why did atheist communists and others so happily kill so many people. They knew that there is no life after death. Did they not care?

Answer 1

Why would the death penalty be "against humanity"?

In killing the dog that bites humanity we serve the best interests of humanity.

Answer 2

Atheism is merely a lack of belief in any supernatural deities. It is not an ideology and doesn't dictate any sort of law, ethics, or politics. Conservative atheists who support the death penalty do so strictly on a practical and social basis and simply don't see it as a religious issue, and don't entertain any notions about the executed convict going either to heaven or h**l after he gets fried. Much like their religious counterparts, they agree that some people deserve to die and that society is better off by killing those misfits who have proven themselves to be a danger to others instead of coddling them in prison at the taxpayers' expense. But an atheist who supports the death penalty would use arguments that appeal to nature and the principle of self-preservation, and ignore the Christian ideas that some criminals should die because their actions offended God or that He commanded the death penalty in the Bible.

Communism is a totalitarian political/economic ideology that has little respect for any individual human rights (including freedom of religion) and puts the interests of the state above all else in the name of the "common good". Communist governments see churches as being a danger to state power, and therefore attempt to actively abolish them. Atheists who believe in personal freedom don't give a d**n what a church does or what it believes, so long as it leaves them alone. Many communists may be atheists, but being an atheist certainly doesn't make you a communist. Just because you don't worship God, doesn't mean you worship the state. Christianity and communism are by no means mutually exclusive. In fact, Jesus and his disciples lived a quintessential communal lifestyle and would have very likely been considered hippies and commies had they lived in America in the 1960's or 1970's. It is also interesting to note that throughout history mainstream Christianity has done little, if anything, to oppose totalitarian governments (where was the church when Hitler was in power?).

Answer 3

Christians seem to think they're sending that person to h**l.  That seems worse.

I am not pro-death penalty but I'm not against it outright.  If a heinous crime is committed and there is really no doubt about the person's guilt so that the execution can be done quickly then I'd be OK with it to save the resources.  However, that situation doesn't occur very often.  And I don't have a good reason to believe it deters many people because criminals don't think they'll be caught.  So the arguments for the death penalty are not very strong.

Answer 4

Waste of resources.

Answer 5

Why keep trash on the Earth if we could just as easily dispose of it?  I mean no one will miss the trash and the trash has no more use in the world.  

Answer 6

I support life imprisonment not the death.

Answer 7

I've gone back and forth on the death penalty that I've now decided that i don't really care one way or the other. I see no compelling argument for or against with this one caveat: that the judicial system is truly blind to a person's background.

So i have a practical objection to the death penalty in the US right now because the judicial system isn't equitable. But I have no philosophical issue with it.

Answer 8

Inquisistion, Crusades, sacrifices, Noahs arc, book of job, 9/11 attacks salem witch trials and many more for dem christians. Sick people do not need taxpayer money to be fed.

Answer 9

how do you know atheists support the death penalty, do you know them all, and i am a confirmed atheist and do not and never have supported the death penalty.  

as others have pointed out, more people die through religious means, the crusades, and Inquisition than from any atheistic view point.

Answer 10

I absolutely do not support the death penalty. If you look at the statistic's you will find that Christians have a higher crime rate than atheist, I think you need to retool your question.

Answer 11

There are all kinds of atheists in this world.  Some of them even eat cheeseburgers, even though it is against my personal values.

Answer 12

You seem to be making the same assumption as do the Christians, you think that atheists have anything in common beyond the disbelief in god.  Individual atheists have their own beliefs and world views, as do any other individuals, and each ones reasoning is their own.  There is no single answer to your question that applies to all, or even a significant majority, of death penalty supporters, atheist or not.

Answer 13

You're confusing atheism and humanism. An atheist isn't necessarily a humanist.

As for your other point, Stalin and Lenin (I'm assuming that's who you mean when you reference "atheist communists") were murderous dictators for reasons other than their atheism.

I'm actually undecided on the death penalty, but I do believe some people simply cannot be rehabilitated.

Answer 14

It is as appropriate to kill a dangerous person as it is to kill a dangerous animal of any other species.  The man who murdered an entire family in Idaho so that he could sexually abuse the daughter has been sentenced to death -- and I entirely approve.

The slaughter of the kulaks by communists in the USSR was not particularly related to atheism.  Stalin simply wanted to get rid of anyone who might be in the way of him imposing his particular vision of the state.

Answer 15

Possibly because they think prisons are already too crowded.  

Answer 16

I am atheist and I do not support the death penalty.  It is not only barbaric, but what if they have the wrong person?  A lot of people were set free from death row once DNA evidence was invented, so my question would be how many innocent people has our country killed?  The people who support the death penalty have a strong sense of retribution, a quality I have not seen in any atheists I know.

I assume you are referring to Josef Stalin in the comment about "atheist communists", and the reason he didn't care is because he was a maniac.  This had nothing to do with his religion or lack of it, he was simply a sociopath.  He killed over 20,000,000 of his own people and never lost any sleep because he thought he was better than everyone else and that he could do as he pleased.  Same applies to any brutal rulers from the Assyrian warlords to Justinian to Stalin

Answer 17

Because atheists are free to choose their own opinions and principles on life and not have them prescribed for them by religious doctrine and then spoon fed to them. That way people come up with their own and inevitabley differing views on the subject.

Answer 18

you kill someone, we will kill you back

jail is not a punishment to some ppl, what we should have to pay to support a person who committed horrible crimes

also christians have h**l, is killing them worse then killing them and sending non-believers to h**l

Answer 19

The death penalty is about the criminal justice system. it is about crime and punishment, it is distinct from views on an after life  

Answer 20

I don't support the death penalty, but I would like to see our prison system go back to "hard labour" instead of namby pambying to the human rights of murderers/terrorists, by giving them a cushy 3 meals a day, tvs, money and day trips to buy flaming lottery tickets.

Answer 21

I don't support the death penalty. I do, however, support lifetime imprisonment.

Answer 22

While there may be atheists who support our employees killing some of us in cold blood, I'm not one of them.  In fact, it seems that theists are more likely to accept that kind of blind obedience to "authority," and Antonin Scalia agrees.

http://www.theocracywatch.org/biblical_l...

[Excerpt]

"Scalia's article in First Things is about the death penalty. He writes:

'Indeed, it seems to me that the more Christian a country is, the less likely it is to regard the death penalty as immoral.' "

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/prin...

[Excerpt]

"...Justice Scalia's remarks show bitterness against democracy, strong dislike for the Constitution's approach to religion and eager advocacy for the submission of the individual to the state. It is a chilling mixture for an American."

.

Answer 23

Why keep a danger to society alive? Moreover, what joy has he in living confined, never to be free again? Life sentences are worse than the death penalty, if you ask me.

Answer 24

I'm for the death penalty in theory, but against it in practice.  I really can't be arsed to elaborate right now, but if you would like clarification, do feel free to email me.

Answer 25

We're all entitled to our own opinions.

Answer 26

When you go to the kitchen and pull the basket out from under the counter, do you look inside to see if the evolving bactreia is worthy of living in your house or do you close off the top and take the trash out?

Some atheists know that there are threats to the gene pool. That why they have filters on them.

Especially the communists and other non-religious powers know that "the one" is not to be valued over the "many".

And any "good" atheist would view you as an animal that may need to be put down, being a danger to them and their gene pool.

Answer 27

Why do so many Christians kill happily (crusades, inquisition.)

Okay, now that we see that everybody kills, back to the main part of the question.

I support the death penalty.

I believe that some acts are too horrible to tolerate and the worst punishment is death.

It's that simple.

Answer 28

I think it is because we can believe contradictory things. I am against the death penalty because it brutalizes us and because we make mistakes and I find it heartbreaking to even think of people who are imprisoned and treated badly whilst innocent.

I think the phenomenon can exist as we all have different patterns of hate love fear spite etc.

The greatest human psychological defense is rationalization - we construct and tell ourselves stories to make everything we want to believe all right.

When did atheists kill so many people? If you are talking about Stalin he was a very scary dictator with mental health issues - Just because someone calls themselves 'communist' doesn't make them so - you are what you do not what you say you are. Other communists cannot be held responsible for the demise of the idea any more than individual christians can be blamed for killing in Jesus's name.

(Gosh I am anarchist I never thought I'd make a speech in favour of communism - well there you go whaddyaknow)  

I think basically we are a certain mix of love fear and defensive blame attack and stories and we can be all kinds off illogical mixtures of all these properties.

I know for sure I wouldn't want to be around anyone who was up for killing anyone else either themselves or by proxy.

Answer 29

I don't support the death penalty, well sort of!  i am Aussie and we dont have it here!  But i personally would like to see people suffer the way there victims suffer!

a man raped and murdered a little 10 yr old girl.....

The little girl got the death penalty(she is dead)

the family got life(their child is gone forever and they will suffer for life)

and the murderer got a bed and breakfast(jail)

Its not fair that these people get off so lightly.....I dont think they should die...thats too easy, but they should suffer more than that poor girl and her family!

Answer 30

I have never supported such a barbaric act, never will. I will leave that decision to the christians as they seem to be the most blood thirsty.

Answer 31

I think you`re getting things a little confused and assosiating death,religeon and punishment in one,in a society that kills people it`s not the sending them to another place but removing them from this one that counts,

Compassion is not on the cards in all and any society where the  death penalty is an option,its banned in Europe,

Life is more important to an individual than going to another place even if it did exist,removing your life is the ultimate punishment,