One of the most controversial issues today relates to whtehr to use capital punishment or not. In this essay, I am going to examine this question from both points of view and then give my own perspective on the matter.
On one side of the argument there are people who argue that the benefits of killing violent criminalsconsiderably outweigh its disadvantages. The main reason for believing this is that the fear of execution acts as a deterrent to commit serious crimes such as rape and murder. It is also possible to say that the execution of a criminal may bring relief to the suffering victims. One good illustration of this is when Sadam Hussein was executed. Many of the victims who were persecuted under his rule expressed joy and relief when he was finally captured and killed.
On the other hand, it is also possible to make the opposing case. It is often argued that in fact sentencing criminals to death is just committing another murder. People often have this opinion because they think that it is immoral to take another person’s life, no matter what the reason is. A second point is that many religions are opposed to any form of murder. A particularly good example here is from the bible, which lists killing another person as one of the Ten Commandments that should not be broken.
In my opinion, both arguments have their merits. On balance, however, I tend to believe that capital punishment is justified in cases of extreme crime and that deterring violent crime is more important than taking the moral high ground espoused in the bible.
One of the most controversial issues
today
relates to whtehr to
use
capital punishment or not. In this essay, I am going to examine this question from both points of view and then give my
own
perspective on the matter.
On one side of the argument there are
people
who argue that the benefits of killing violent
criminalsconsiderably
outweigh its disadvantages. The main reason for believing this is that the fear of execution acts as a deterrent to commit serious crimes such as rape and murder. It is
also
possible to say that the execution of a criminal may bring relief to the suffering victims. One
good
illustration of this is when Sadam Hussein
was executed
.
Many
of the victims who
were persecuted
under his
rule
expressed joy and relief when he was
finally
captured and killed.
On the other hand
, it is
also
possible to
make
the opposing case. It is
often
argued that in fact sentencing criminals to death is
just
committing another murder.
People
often
have this opinion
because
they
think
that it is immoral to take another person’s life, no matter what the reason is. A second point is that
many
religions
are opposed
to any form of murder. A
particularly
good
example here is from the bible, which lists killing another person as one of the Ten Commandments that should not
be broken
.
In my opinion, both arguments have their merits. On balance,
however
, I tend to believe that capital punishment
is justified
in cases of extreme crime and that deterring violent crime is more
important
than taking the moral high ground espoused in the bible.