Life hangs in the balance, a choice given by the death penalty. There is a reckless nature about human beings that has shaped society into making decisions of who deserves to live or die.
Keeping those who undermine society around, to possibly cause more destruction or remove the troublemakers completely from existence never to worry about their harm again; kill or not to kill. In "Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life", Edward Koch (1985) effectively argues how the death of a criminal using the death penalty should be acceptable and utilized in society.
Edward Koch (1985) begins with an emotionally engaging story about how the criminals that are about to be executed come up with a moral statement before they die. Criminals like
"Robert Lee …show more content…
575), begin to make statements like "Killing people is wrong.... It makes no difference whether it's citizens, countries, or governments. Killing is wrong" (p.575). Koch fundamentally describes it as only before their own life do they recognize its value. The realization may only occur once the criminal is put face to face with the fate they have brought upon others, for some the only way to discern life is when it happens to be their own. He makes it seem like the only way for society to learn its lesson is to put the cold blooded killers on the spot using the death penalty. Another situation Koch describes is a man who admitted to killing and then mutilating a fourteen year old girl only when put up to the death penalty (p. 575). Life used as a tool for justice reveals the underlying messages under the facade human nature. Koch states the death penalty as a "new found reverence for life stem from the realization that they were about to lose their own" (p. 575). Some criminals have a strong mentality when it comes to admitting the truth, the only way for them to confess is to force the reaper upon them, the death penalty, an effective strategy in correcting human nature.
Affirming Life Through Death
Keeping those who undermine society around, to possibly cause more destruction or remove the troublemakers completely from existence never to worry about their harm again; kill or not to kill. In "Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life", Edward Koch (1985) effectively argues how the death of a criminal using the death penalty should be acceptable and utilized in society.
Edward Koch (1985) begins with an emotionally engaging story about how the criminals that are about to be executed come up with a moral statement before they die. Criminals like
"Robert Lee …show more content…
575), begin to make statements like "Killing people is wrong.... It makes no difference whether it's citizens, countries, or governments. Killing is wrong" (p.575). Koch fundamentally describes it as only before their own life do they recognize its value. The realization may only occur once the criminal is put face to face with the fate they have brought upon others, for some the only way to discern life is when it happens to be their own. He makes it seem like the only way for society to learn its lesson is to put the cold blooded killers on the spot using the death penalty. Another situation Koch describes is a man who admitted to killing and then mutilating a fourteen year old girl only when put up to the death penalty (p. 575). Life used as a tool for justice reveals the underlying messages under the facade human nature. Koch states the death penalty as a "new found reverence for life stem from the realization that they were about to lose their own" (p. 575). Some criminals have a strong mentality when it comes to admitting the truth, the only way for them to confess is to force the reaper upon them, the death penalty, an effective strategy in correcting human nature.
Affirming Life Through Death