Should Capital Punishment Be Brought Back to Britain
Should Britain re-instate the death penalty?
The majority of Great Britain is Christian, since according to the 2011 census, 59.4% of the country claimed to be of Christian faith. However, there are mixed views on Christianity and capital punishment. Many Christians believe that the Bible supports the use of the death penalty as it clearly says in Genesis 9:6, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.” In addition to this, Jesus commands, “He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die”, in Matthew 15:4. Lastly, many argue that capital punishment sustains one of the commandments, 'thou shalt not kill' by acknowledging the significance murder and therefore punishing it with death.
On the other hand, many Christians do not think that the argument encouraging capital punishment is strong enough as they argue that ‘thou shalt not kill’ has no exceptions. Furthermore, compassion and forgiveness are key beliefs a taught in the Bible as Jesus once told his followers that one should “Love thy neighbour”. To practice this, they believe that they must forgive the wrong-doings of others instead of taking away their lives.
In contrast to Christianity, Islam has only one view towards capital punishment and that is that it’s a fair and just method of punishing a murderer’s sins. In the Qur’an it states “Take not life, which God has made sacred, except by the way of justice and law.” In this quote Allah explains that Muslims must not take the lives of their fellow brothers and sisters except in the name of law and justice.
There are a list of reasons why capital punishment can be used in Islam; intentional murder and Fasad fil-Ardh (spreading mischief in the land). As a result of these beliefs, an Islamic law, the Sharia law, is practiced in many countries, resulting in death of many murderers, homosexuals, rapists etc. In Saudi Arabia, criminals can be stoned, beheaded or even killed by a firing squad, as punishment. In 2010, there were
The majority of Great Britain is Christian, since according to the 2011 census, 59.4% of the country claimed to be of Christian faith. However, there are mixed views on Christianity and capital punishment. Many Christians believe that the Bible supports the use of the death penalty as it clearly says in Genesis 9:6, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.” In addition to this, Jesus commands, “He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die”, in Matthew 15:4. Lastly, many argue that capital punishment sustains one of the commandments, 'thou shalt not kill' by acknowledging the significance murder and therefore punishing it with death.
On the other hand, many Christians do not think that the argument encouraging capital punishment is strong enough as they argue that ‘thou shalt not kill’ has no exceptions. Furthermore, compassion and forgiveness are key beliefs a taught in the Bible as Jesus once told his followers that one should “Love thy neighbour”. To practice this, they believe that they must forgive the wrong-doings of others instead of taking away their lives.
In contrast to Christianity, Islam has only one view towards capital punishment and that is that it’s a fair and just method of punishing a murderer’s sins. In the Qur’an it states “Take not life, which God has made sacred, except by the way of justice and law.” In this quote Allah explains that Muslims must not take the lives of their fellow brothers and sisters except in the name of law and justice.
There are a list of reasons why capital punishment can be used in Islam; intentional murder and Fasad fil-Ardh (spreading mischief in the land). As a result of these beliefs, an Islamic law, the Sharia law, is practiced in many countries, resulting in death of many murderers, homosexuals, rapists etc. In Saudi Arabia, criminals can be stoned, beheaded or even killed by a firing squad, as punishment. In 2010, there were