The Death Penalty

  I am aware that there has been much battle over something that is a requirement of any system of Justice within a sane nation. This system was that given by God was the right to execute those who inflict severe crimes on others. As stated in the Declaration of Independence, “our rights are endowed by our creator”. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If I as an American citizen have the right to life, why should it be taken? If I have the right to liberty, then why should I have to live in constant fear of transgressors? And if I have the right to pursue happiness, how can I obtain happiness when retribution is not served to my aggressor? Our right to execute inhumane human offenders comes from the Bible. Andrew Jackson, the 7^th President of the United States said, “the Bible is the book upon which this republic rests”. Noah Webster, a political writer, said, “All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible”.

 Now do not confuse retribution with revenge. My right as an American citizen is to live in a society free from the constant fear of my own life. Freedom does not mean the “abolishment of laws”. People living in the state of anarchy are bound to gangs, predators, and warlords. Laws enhance our freedom to cooperate and work together as a whole. Laws give you choice. Freedom does not mean “entitlement”, freedom is the right not only for yourself, but the security of your community.  If someone offends one, he offends all. And freedom is not for everyone. Those who violate the freedom of another should have a scale of restrictions placed on their freedom. This restriction can mean the right to life.

 According to statisticbrain.com, only 4% of death row inmates are released from their sentence being found innocent. 8% of inmates are granted clemency. This means that 88% of inmates are actually found with evidence to be convicted. Of course in any system of justice we should not expect perfection. If 20% of those 88% are innocent, that means that 68% of convicted murderers, predators, and rapists are being executed justly.

 In our prison system, about 3.6% of prisoners are innocent. If we take 1% of that, that’s 20,000 people out of 2.2 million people being found innocent. That number is now incredibly small. Of course these lives matter and there is always room for improvement.

 The United States of America is the world’s leading nation in incarceration. We have had a 500% increase over the past thirty years. This means more rapists, more murderers, more pedophiles, and more depravity. China is leading the world in the number of criminal executions and their crime level is ranked 83^rd. While the United States crime level is ranked 30^th. That’s three times more crime than China. If we continue to treat crimes of murderers, pedophiles, and offenders by locking them in cages telling them they will have free food, a roof over their head, fresh sheets to lay in, and fresh clothes to wear, then we are not solving the problem. Giving murderers the right to life means they have the right to yours. Solutions do not come from subtle systems but through severe sanctions. Freedom without retribution is a lie, and Justice without death is a compromise. Give me truth, or give me Justice.        

  Now one may argue that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime, and of course that innocent people oftentimes are killed with a sentence pertaining to another man.

  But you must not forget the very reason of the death penalty. It is not to deter crime. The death penalty does not scare inhumane savages. The purpose of the death penalty is strictly for the retribution. Now of course, to the common citizen, fear lies in the midst of one who desires to offend.  The fact is, those who DON’T care for their lives should have their hopes granted. We say that the death penalty is immoral and treats humans like animals, yet locking someone in a cage for the rest of their life to the point of insanity isn’t? Especially if they’re on parole. Then they come out ten times worse than what they started. This idea is absolute mockery. It doesn’t matter what your culture, society, belief system, or common view is. Putting someone in a cage for the rest of his life is torture.

  Now touching the case of innocence. We cannot as a nation expect perfection in anything we do. In every ordinance of man, man is apt to flaw. We cannot and will never have a perfect society. Prohibiting the death penalty will only spot the land with more transgression. In the last 35 years, 4% of death row inmates were innocent. That 4% is 50 people out of 1,250 people who deserve the death penalty.

  When a nation does not keep God’s commandments, God oftentimes punishes that nation for disobedience to his law. Anything and everything as you can clearly see that is outside of God’s law is wrong. The death penalty is a righteous penalty for the atonement for the innocent. The death penalty is in God’s law. I stand my ground.