The death penalty – revenge or Justice?
Many people feel the innate disgust towards people who commit heinous crimes. They wish them to be wiped away from the surface of the earth. With that , they believe these people wont be able to hurt anyone any more. The economic stringent ones believe that the death penalty is cheaper than long-term imprisonment. Death penalty is also seen to serve as a deterrent to others.
On the other hand, there are people who feel that the death penalty should be abolished. They argue that:
- It robs repentant prisoners of redemption
- An innocent person wrongly accused may die because of judicial error or police error.
- A state’s definition of crime is subjective. For example, Hamza Kashgari from Saudi Arabia may be charged with apostasy (renunciation of ones religion) – an act punishable by death – for remarks he made on Twitter.
I think the death penalty is a form of revenge. A public vengeance… although we know that vengeance achieves little.
It is a big question. What do you think?
