The Death Penalty

The death penalty according to the catholic church is inhumane, unjust, and it disrespects the human life. The US Catholic Bishops oppose the death penalty for the specific reasons that it does not rehabilitate the person, it does  not deter crime, revenge is not christian like, there are better ways to combat violence, and the human life must always be respected. All of these are very valid points, except for the part about revenge. The death penalty is not a form of revenge, it is a form of punishment. If sentencing someone to death is revenge then so is sentencing someone to life in prison or even just a week. Then you could find a valid reason that no one should even be put in jail since it is just for revenge. Other than that, all of the reasons for the US Catholic Bishops to oppose the death penalty are correct, you cannot rehabilitate someone who is dead, killing someone as a punishment will not stop crime, there are better ways to punish someone for serious crimes rather than killing the person, and life must be respected no matter what. 

Some people see the death penalty as a way to rid the world of someone who has committed a serious crime. However, others see it as inhumane, and a way to punish someone for there actions without granting them a second chance. People who are for the death penalty do not want to give some people a second chance and just kill them for what they did, while the people against it want to punish them without killing them and give them a chance to be rehabilitated. 

If it were up to me serious crimes such as killing another human being intentionally should automatically be punished with life in prison with a chance of parole. Because, if you killed a person you have disrespected the human life which is the worst crime someone can commit, so it should be justified with an equally worse punishment. 

It is under no circumstance acceptable to let 100 guilty people go free than to convict one innocent person. Many innocent people have been proven innocent after they have already been convicted or killed, and it is unacceptable to continue doing this if there is a chance that there is an innocent persons life at stake.

Catholic teaching states that "bloodless means should be used wherever they are enough to protect the common good." If there is a way to protect the innocent people and good nature of the country without killing anyone then it should be done. If we can always find a way to do this then the death penalty can be forgotten and it can never be used to take another persons life.