Subject Of The Death Penalty For Crimes example essay topic

When you first think of the words 'death penalty', you can't help but associate that with the words 'capitol punishment'. However, is the death penalty really the ultimate, and therefore capital punishment. I believe that capitol punishment is the right punishment for those who commit heinous crimes like pre-meditated murder or rape. However, the death penalty would not satisfy me as a family member of the victim. What would satisfy me is to know that the murderer or rapist is suffering in prison until he dies and receives their true punishment in eternal life. I believe that life in prison, in solitary confinement, and without the possibility of parole, is the most fit punishment and the punishment that will put the person in the most pain and suffering until they die.

But how did I come up with this belief and argument against the death penalty as a capital punishment? How and based on what did I come up with these beliefs. First of all, I am a very religious person who follows the church in just about everything it does. If you are a religious person as well, you would know that on the subject of the death penalty for crimes, the bible seems to have a clear points of view about it in the old testament. In one part, the bible asks for "an eye for an eye... and a life for a life". This is clearly stated in the old testament in exodus 21: 22-25.

However, if you look closely, the bible asks for the death penalty for several different crimes that by today's standards would not even be crimes at all. In the article "Executions Are Too Costly -- -Morally" by Helen Prejean, published in the book "Contemporary and Classic Arguments: A portable Anthology", the areas where the bible asks for the death penalty are clearly outlined. Prejean outlines theses areas in a list like this "Contempt of parents (Exodus 21: 15, 17; Leviticus 24: 17); Trespass upon sacred ground (Exodus 19: 12-13; Numbers 1: 51; 18: 7); Sorcery (Exodus 22: 18; Leviticus 20: 207); Bestiality (Exodus 22: 19; Leviticus 20: 15-16); Sacrifice to foreign gods (Exodus 22: 20; Deuteronomy 13: 1-9); Profaning the Sabbath (Exodus 31: 14) Adultery (Leviticus 20: 10; Deuteronomy 22: 22-24); Incest (Leviticus 20: 11-13); Homosexuality (Leviticus 20: 13); And prostitution (Leviticus 21: 19; Deuteronomy 22: 13-21)". I believe in the bible whole heartedly. However, when it comes to the death penalty you have to look at other sources. Those who keep on using the bible as a reference to keep the death penalty because of the verse "eye for an eye... ". have to remember what John Weis said in his article "Just Punishment?" Published on the Wilson Web database; he said "Would he advocate that we put do death categorically all fornicators as the Mosaic law prescribed?

What about politicians who make sacrilegious communions? Such a position would be consistent with his use of Scripture". Therefore, I say, you can not solely rely on the scriptures when it comes to this manner. The Mosaic Laws are simply not ones that will work in today's society.

So, if it is not going to be the bible, than what else. Apart from the bible as a book, my faith itself plays a big role in my life and in my decision about the death penalty. My faith tells me that ultimately, the final judgment is when it all comes together and adds up. What I mean by that is, if we kill those who kill than we are playing God. The final judgment on the last day is when the Lord will punish deservingly those who commit the crimes that they did in their life time. This is a small point because I understand that you may not have the same faith as I do; for me, that part of my faith really plays a big part on my beliefs in the death penalty.

Another point I would like to make is regarding how much someone really suffers when they are put to death? When someone is put to death, especially by the lethal injection, it seems as if they die instantaneously and with out pain. To find out for sure how the lethal injection works, I did some research and found out exactly how it works. On a website called "How Stuff Works" at web I found the step by step process of the execution, from preparation to the final breath and even their burial. Did you know that someone who is executed by lethal injection first gets put into a deep sleep so that no pain what so ever can be felt?! In the step that describes the drugs administered during execution on howstuffworks. com, it lists "Anesthetic - Sodium thiopental, which has the trademark name Pentothal, puts the inmate into a deep sleep.

This drug is a barbiturate that induces general anesthesia when administered intravenously". (howstuffworks. com) It then lists Pavulon, which is a muscle relaxant that will ultimately assist in stopping the heart beat completely. Of course, all this heart stopping is done at absolutely no pain to the criminal. The final, and optional step depending on the state, is to inject Potassium Chloride, which is what actually stops the heart from beating and the lungs from breathing; all this, again, with no pain being felt by the criminal. After the process is done, the criminals family gets to take his body and give it a proper burial. This is very unfair considering that the criminal may have taken even that right away from his victims family by brutally slaughtering or killing his victim with multiple shots. Knife slaughters and multiple shot wounds take away from the body of the victim and their proper burial.

And what if the criminal got rid of the body some how, and when it was found it was in terrible condition? Doesn't that also take away from the victims right to a proper burial? Why should the criminal get the easy way out of life when his victim was brutally murdered or raped? That does not seem just at all, but what is? If putting the criminal to death is not just, than what is? What can we do to a murderer or rapist if we are not going to put them to death?

My answer to that question is simply that there is something more brutal and more unforgiving than just putting someone to death. I believe that someone who committed a crime as atrocious as a pre-meditated murder or rape deserves the to live the rest of their life suffering as the family of their victim will. The only fit crime for a murder is to live the rest of their life in solitary confinement without the possibility of parole. This is fitting because now that he has taken the life of his victim, their family will live the rest of their lives without them, and they will have to suffer and endure the pain of their absence. Putting the criminal to death is letting him take the easy way out.

Dieing by the lethal injection is painless, but being put in prison for life is much more painful. I would lastly like to put in a personal experience just to show how a family of a murder victim really feels. A lot of us are lucky enough to have never had a family member get murdered or rapped, but some of us have not been so lucky. Many years ago, my father had four very close friends; so close that my siblings and I considered them uncles. One day, my uncles, who were also brothers, were out taking care of their field in my home country of Egypt. The three were well known and loved by almost every one in our town, but they still had their enemies.

So, on that fateful day in 1994, my uncles were finishing up their work and about to head out when three of them were suddenly faced with some of those enemies. Their enemies opened fire on them and brutally killed three of them but only wounded the fourth. Until today I will always remember the day when the news of their murder came to my father on the phone, it was like he was hit by a giant stone and was absolutely floored. Later, because of the surviving brother who knew the people who killed his brothers, the murderers were caught and sentenced to death. Till this day, I don't know if they have been put to death or not, but what I do know is that's not what their brother or my father wanted. What they wanted was to have them suffer in prison for the rest of their lives as they are now still suffering from the loss of their brothers.

My father and their brother believed that it was the only fit punishment, because they believed in what Gandhi said which is "if we lived eye for an eye the whole world would be blind". In the end it must be understood that killing someone who has killed is not going to solve our problems. Making those who end the lives of others suffer until their own death is the my personal answer to the problem. I know and understand fully that I may be alone in my beliefs, but I still stand by them strongly. Killing in the name of punishment is a shame, especially today when we should all understand that our worst punishment, as humans, is to live our lives thinking and regretting our mistakes..