Unbelievable.

I think we’ve exhausted this thread. Represented are many viewpoints, and the Googlers will have plenty to read and digest.

There is no question that at least a few folks have received the death penalty for something they didn’t do. It is also true that those whose lives have been taken have been disproportionately black due to incompetence at all levels plus an injection of racism. But things are changing very rapidly. Numbers of folks are now being released from prison because of DNA evidence, something not possible before. There is a far more likely prospect that few if any will be unjustly executed in the future. For example, my home state of California is regularly scorned for being a liberal, soft state with respect to crime. However, because we are so careful (and slow! dang it! ) I can guarantee you that none of the 600+ on death row are there unjustly. And slowly and surely they receive the just reward for their deeds, just like Scott Peterson who will soon participate in the “magnificent torture” that is San Quentin. I may be 75 or 80 when he is executed but I will still say that justice, slow as she was, finally came.
(The term “magnificant torture” is not mine but was used by someone in an interview after court today. For those who haven’t been to the Bay Area, SQ sits northeast and down below the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a horrible place to be but has one of the most beautiful views in the U.S.; hence “magnificent torture.” I love it!)

LisaJ,
I counted the wounded deputy as a victim and like you are pleased that she’s doing well.

As far as not supporting the biblical view of capital punishment because people make mistakes, we all better stop living right now. Because we are fallen creatures, sinful to the bone, it is the very reason we need laws. Unfortunately, because of that same fallen nature, we will cheat and defy and try to get over. That’s who we are, but the solution is not to ignore what God says because people take advantage of the system.

We may not like our system sometimes, but it is a blessing – and I mean a blessing – to live under a system like ours, relative to other countries.

I have a major problem with this point of view.

We know there are major issues with the judicial system in this country.

If you have money, you can hire good lawyers and that will increase the chance of being found not guilty.

Next, we know that mistakes are made, including in death penalty cases. Some of them have been found out before the people were executed. But, I have no doubt that there are people not guilty of the crimes who are sitting on death row.

How can anyone, even if the Bible supports the death penalty, support it with chances of mistakes being made.

I have yet to hear or read why mistakingly executing someone is not the same as murder.

Here is God’s answer to your disdain for Capital Punishment. It comes from Genesis 9:6, and it clearly states that God commands us to take the life of a murderer, because we are created in the image of God.

Gen 9:6

6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.

Do you mean which translation? I own copies of the New King James Version and the New International Version.

The “bible days” in the Scripture La Shawn is referring to took place in the first century in the Roman Empire. The ministers the writer is referring to were the Roman Emperors, probably Nero at the time he wrote. Obviously, as American citizens, we can decide our own course. But when we bring God’s name into the equation and believe that He wouldn’t approve of capital punishment, some of us feel some responsibility to point out Scripture, which is where most Americans seem to get their idea of God. Scripture and religion aside, when capital punishment comes up I’m always dismayed by the focus on the poor criminal rather than on the poor victims, which in this case number 5 along with their families.