Christianity and the death penalty are incompatible.

[Sal316]

Period.

Those who quote "an eye for an eye" have got it wrong and obviously have forgotten the words of Jesus and Paul.

The OT concept of "ayin tahat ayin" comes in direct response to Lamech's claim in Genesis 4:

One day Lamech said to his wives:
"Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
listen to me, you wives of Lamech.
I have killed a man who attacked me,
a young man who wounded me.
If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times,
then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!” Gen 4:23-24 (NLT)

"Eye for an eye" was to ensure that punishment would be equivalent to the crime, and was intended to be a prohibition against vengeance.

Since, obviously, man screwed this all up, when Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount, he said this:

38 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. Matt 5:38-40 (NLT)

Then, following the Two Great Commandments, we see this story:

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! Matt 18:21-22 (NLT)

Note the similarity in language between Lamech's lament and Jesus' answer to Peter.

Paul understood this, and in Romans 12, he says:

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.

Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Romans 12:14-20 (NLT)

The underlying point here is that only love can truly change people's hearts and the world. We may not immediately see the change, however. But responding in love shines a spotlight on the "wickedness" in the hearts of people who "do bad things".

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Wish it were true. Some "Christians" go to Leviticus at their convenience

and I swear they'd line up for stoning for recreation if it were offered.

[Sal316]

2. I know, and it makes me sad. eom

[Zoeisright]

3. I agree. Many 'Christians' are quite bloodthirsty.

And have no trouble judging and condemning. Loving and forgiveness? Not so much.

[BurtWorm]

4. Tell that to the victims of the Inquisitions.

[David__77]

5. Christianity and the practice of the death penalty are intrinsically linked.

The church has acted as executioner for most of its existence.

[Sal316]

7. If you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce....

...they taste more like prunes than rhubarb does.


Has the Church been responsible for mind-numbingly horrific things?

Yes.

Is that what Jesus taught?

Not even close.

[darkstar3]

12. So those who executed in the name of the Church, Christianity, and Jesus

were not true Christians?

Where have I heard that before...

[Sal316]

15. That's not what I said.

But thanks for playing.


Here...I'll repeat myself, and this time pay attention:

Has the Church been responsible for mind-numbingly horrific things? Yes.

Is that what Jesus taught? Not even close.

Now where was anything said about "true" Christians?

As to where you've heard that argument:

"The so-called conservative Christians are on sound theological footing, however divorced from reality they are."

“The Great Pretenders simply dismiss all Bible absurdities as metaphors and pretend that nothing in scripture really conflicts with science.”

"Biblical literalists ARE on firmer theological ground than other types of Christians"

"...liberal religion is an affront to the supposed infallibility of their system."

You've heard it from the books you read and the things you've said.

[darkstar3]

16. YOU are separating what the Church did from what Jesus supposedly taught

The only reason to do that is to make the point that the Church was not in keeping with Christian ideals.

So even though you never actually WROTE the words "true Christian", they are quite clearly implied in your post.

[rd_kent]

19. Agreed. Now what can be done to ensure that the Church STOPS?

Because it hasn't. Not at all. It is still responsible for mind-numbingly horrible things.....

[laconicsax]

6. Could you define "Christianity?"

There seems to be several contradictory definitions floating around out there.

Also, what about the end of Romans 1? You know, the part that says that certain types of people are "worthy of death." Is that part supposed to be metaphorical?

[darkstar3]

9. +1

[Dr. Strange]

18. A reading from the book of Acts.

Acts 5
Ananias and Sapphira
¹Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ²With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.

³Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."

⁵When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

⁷About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"

"Yes," she said, "that is the price."

⁹Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."

¹⁰At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Make of it what you will.

[meow2u3]

22. God Himself meted out the death penalty in this passage

After all, didn't the Lord say that vengeance is his?

For all you humans in charge: God didn't die and leave you in charge; therefore, the death penalty should be abolished and replaced with life imprisonment without parole--in solitary if it's a convicted terrorist.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

8. The death penalty is wrong regardless of Christianity's position on it.

If Christianity approved of the death penalty, it would still be wrong. We don't need Christianity to tell us that.

[rrneck]

10. What's your point?

Killing people is simply wrong. Christianity has done as much harm as good to further the cause of compassion and civilized behavior in the world. And the church has made a pile of money working both sides of that street.

[rd_kent]

20. The church has done MORE harm than good.....

[pokerfan]

11. In other news...

The sentencing of a convicted murderer, Khristian Oliver, should be an embarrassment to the state of Texas; the jurors consulted the Old Testament to see what should be done with him, found a bible verse they liked — "And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death" — and sentenced him to be executed.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/death_state_update.php

[JerseygirlCT]

13. Absolutely nt

[trotsky]

14. You sound just as closed-minded and certain as Fred Phelps...

when he holds up his "God hates Fags" sign.

Fundamentalist-style certainty about religious dogma is dangerous no matter where that proclamation ends up on the political spectrum.

[struggle4progress]

17. Q: Who is G-d? ... A: I think maybe it was that guy you just killed

[54anickel]

21. I could agree if you said the teachings of Jesus and the death penalty are incompatible.

Christianity, not so much.

It's sort of like saying being American and universal health care are incompatible. Depends on one's definition of "being American" when that term moves beyond citizenship to what values a "real American" holds.