The Death Penalty

Jacqueline wrote:

Do you believe that the death penalty is right? Should it remain legal?
In this case, is it okay to take a life in response to another's life being taken?
What has influenced your answer? Morals, religion, experiences, or other people?

... Elaborate!

Yes I think the death penalty is right.
I believe there are many people who deserve to die. They have caused pain and heart break in people's lives that can never be fixed.

Some people say they should just be tortured for the rest of their lives but it's not a governments place to do that.

A government doesn't act on revenge. It makes "justice". It must be cold, mechanical and efficient.


I have personal experiences with people who I think should have been killed but I saw them walk free.
A neighbor of mine raped, tortured and burned a girl to death and only got 6 years in prison.
He's scum and deserves to die. He's helping no one by being in this world and causing harm.

Pedophiles who hurt children also deserve to die, in my opinion. Many of them are repeat offenders. They just keep doing it again and again.


There are many other examples I could think of just within my own personal life.



I came to my own conclusions about morality and religion since I was not satisfied with what I had available.

(Thank you for making this topic)

I have mixed feelings on this subject.

I feel that some people deserve it, but I also feel like I wouldn't be able to do it myself, and I think if I'm too cowardly to do it, how could I sit back and watch someone else do it?

People like Rapists and Molesters most defenitally deserve it, but Wouldn't torture be a worse punishment? wouldn't making them stay on this earth, knowing what they did be worse?

Everyone has a reason for everything they do, and if people took the time to understand the reasons people do horrible things, there would be a way to better them. (even though in no way would it diminish what they've done)

Most people are just searching for attention, whether it's negative or positive (look at Celebrities these days, when their positive runs out, they go shave their heads), so wouldn't putting them on a big trial, and publicly deciding what should be their fate, just prolonging their hold on the world?

Then again, If I were put in a position where I could stop someone from committing the horrible act in the first place with death, I think I would kill them.

But afterwards, what's the point? Self satisfaction? How are they ever going to learn the gravity of what they did if they don't get a chance to?

.... I'm undecided.

I think that once they're adults they should already know better and it doesn't matter if they learn or not at the expense of someone else's life.


We can't be guinea pigs for their morality.

Hopefully other people will be able to learn from watching instead.

People do a lot of horrible things. Usually for selfish reasons.

I don't think it really matters if we understand why every single time.

Some guy might decide to rape a 3 year old because he was molested when he was a kid and thinks "hey it happened to me and I'm fine!" but that doesn't excuse it.

WhiteDemonist wrote:

I think that once they're adults they should already know better and it doesn't matter if they learn or not at the expense of someone else's life.


We can't be guinea pigs for their morality.

Hopefully other people will be able to learn from watching instead.

People do a lot of horrible things. Usually for selfish reasons.

I don't think it really matters if we understand why every single time.

Some guy might decide to rape a 3 year old because he was molested when he was a kid and thinks "hey it happened to me and I'm fine!" but that doesn't excuse it.

I think the person would probably do it because the world is cruel, and he has to take it out on someone.

It's inexcusable, but I don't think ending their life is whats best... Give them a chance to suffer through misery, for a specific thing.
For crazy people, I think the death penalty is more acceptable.
They will never stop doing what their doing, their crazy., and they don't live in the same world we do.

Also, selfish reasons or not, I want to understand the reason, so I can figure out how I think about this person completely and thoroughly.

Adults are just as stupid as kids, their just more experienced stupid.
Kids do crimes all the time, but no one kills them.
Adults do crimes, and it's taken more seriously.
And it's because their's this preconceived notion that the kids are innocent with a bad past.
Everyone has a bad past and no one is innocent.

If someone close to you did this horrendous act, wouldn't you want them to have a chance to understand and feel remorse for what they did? wouldn't you want them to suffer?
Killing them is like grounding a kid for staying out too late, when the reason they stayed out is get away from parental arguments.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this, but It's probably the psychologist in me wanting to understand the mind...

Nation wrote:

I think the person would probably do it because the world is cruel, and he has to take it out on someone.

That is the reason a lot of the time.

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It's inexcusable, but I don't think ending their life is whats best... Give them a chance to suffer through misery, for a specific thing.

Not everyone feels bad about what they've done. A lot of the time they do it because they think they're right to do it or they don't care. Not everyone thinks like you and I do.

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For crazy people, I think the death penalty is more acceptable.
They will never stop doing what their doing, their crazy., and they don't live in the same world we do.

I agree, but crazy people are the ones you should study most as a psychologist, after all, they are normal in their own minds. We just SEE them as crazy.

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Also, selfish reasons or not, I want to understand the reason, so I can figure out how I think about this person completely and thoroughly.

It doesn't make sense to spare every single one because of this reason.

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Adults are just as stupid as kids, their just more experienced stupid.
Kids do crimes all the time, but no one kills them.
Adults do crimes, and it's taken more seriously.
And it's because their's this preconceived notion that the kids are innocent with a bad past.
Everyone has a bad past and no one is innocent.

People think that kids are young enough to change their ways. Adults are arrogant and think they're always right. They don't change so easily. Adults are also old enough that they should know the difference between right and wrong as in societal standards. They are aware of the consequences.

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If someone close to you did this horrendous act, wouldn't you want them to have a chance to understand and feel remorse for what they did? wouldn't you want them to suffer?

It would be easier for me to move on with my life if I knew they were gone and never going to hurt anyone else. Being alive I know there's a chance they could do it again.

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Killing them is like grounding a kid for staying out too late, when the reason they stayed out is get away from parental arguments.

This doesn't make sense to me.

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I'm still not sure how I feel about this, but It's probably the psychologist in me wanting to understand the mind...

Probably. But you can always study cases in the past.

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Killing them is like grounding a kid for staying out too late, when the reason they stayed out is get away from parental arguments.

This doesn't make sense to me.

I mean It's like punishing a kid for the wrong reasons.
You'd be punishing them because of what they did, and it could be the wrong punishment for them.
How many kids cry because they get punished for something their too afraid to tell their parents the truth of why they did it?
(just a comparison, I don't think they are to the same standard at all literally)
I think that if you understood the person, the punishment would be better suited.
And that's what we have judges and lawyers and things for, to get to the bottom of the issue.
The gesture behind the action is often ignored.

Nation wrote:

I mean It's like punishing a kid for the wrong reasons.
You'd be punishing them because of what they did, and it could be the wrong punishment for them.
How many kids cry because they get punished for something their too afraid to tell their parents the truth of why they did it?
(just a comparison, I don't think they are to the same standard at all literally)
I think that if you understood the person, the punishment would be better suited.
And that's what we have judges and lawyers and things for, to get to the bottom of the issue.
The gesture behind the action is often ignored.

Well that's why we have courts and stuff. Like maybe for example a woman kills a 16 year old boy because he gave her daughter AIDS.

I think that in a case like that I'd personally let her walk free but it's still against the law to murder someone so she has to go to trial too.

So yes we do need to look at the reasons behind something like that.

it's that whole "eye for an eye. tooth for a tooth thing"

i think tht if someone has murdered then they should be too or if they have raped someone....just major crimes along those lines really

but if they are crimes like stealing etc then they shouldnt have the death penalty for them

if the British still had the death penalty then we wouldnt have over crowded prisons

also people that go after little children and abuse them should deffinately get the death penalty because that is wrong and they should not be allowed to live if they do that.

I personally support the death penalty.
I can't really add much more to what Whitey said, because she hit it on the head. Give or take.
Adults are treated with more harshity because they should know better. They should be more mature. They deserve tougher penalties because they're supposed to be more responsible.

XxKittyxX wrote:

it's that whole "eye for an eye. tooth for a tooth thing"

i think tht if someone has murdered then they should be too or if they have raped someone....just major crimes along those lines really

I think most people would be appalled if the US government ordered a rapist to be publicly raped.
I personally would probably laugh my ass off.

Edit:

But I realize this is wrong.

I believe in an eye for an eye.

If someone kills someone, they deserve to be killed.

If someone rapes someone, they deserve to be raped too.(Same can be applied to pedophiles, they touch children they should be raped, I think or soemthing of the same catastrophic-ness)

If someone steals they should be fined the same amount the stole plus more for being a douche.

You get what I mean?

Casper. wrote:

If someone steals they should be fined the same amount the stole plus more for being a douche.

I agree wholeheartedly with that. Lol

mcr666 wrote:

Casper. wrote:

If someone steals they should be fined the same amount the stole plus more for being a douche.

I agree wholeheartedly with that. Lol

Though a lot of people steal because they don't have anything else
If a homeless person with no income and no money stole food
Would he have to pay back the amount + intrest?
It would be impossible

If you studied psychology, human conditions and shit... I doubt you'd be fans of death penalty anymore.

Damnation wrote:

If you studied psychology, human conditions and shit... I doubt you'd be fans of death penalty anymore.

I'm not

Damnation wrote:

If you studied psychology, human conditions and shit... I doubt you'd be fans of death penalty anymore.

I intend on studying psychology further.
If the point is to educate the masses then killing them doesn't do very much good.

Penalties are only supposed to be a deterrent to shape behavior into the desired fashion.

I don't think that death should be the first choice but I believe that it has it's place at times.
Keeping those alive who cause more harm than good is generally not cost effective.
Studying these people in order to change and prevent their behavior is a good idea but there are probably more "criminals" than there would be psychologists available and there seem to be more variables than could be handled.

So I would say, study some, but don't let them live in the lap of luxury for their misbehavior.
Doing that would probably only encourage crime. I've heard that a lot of criminals are repeat offenders because they no longer can function in normal society and it's far easier to have a roof over your head by breaking a law than it is to work for it.

Fear of death may be a good deterrent and a last resort for those who are unwilling to cooperate but I'll study it further to see what the most efficient answer would be.

We have to weigh the gains and damages.

I'm for it.
I believe that you get what you give.
If you take an innocent life, yours should be taken in return.
I'm also going to throw in the idea of letting the immediate family of the deceased decide.