The Divine Command Theory, And Ethical Theories Of Capital Punishment

Superior Essays
Capital Punishment and Ethical Theories. Many people in the United States have opposing views on Capital punishment, which is also known as the death penalty. The death penalty is the process in which, convicted criminals are executed by a governing authority. Many other countries have abolished capital punishment but the United States still allows for this to happen in certain states. The death penalty is used for most terrible crimes such as murder, treason, or espionage but mainly for murder. Many people argue about whether Capital punishment is ethical, moral and even legal. I will cover the history, supporters and opponents, The Divine Command Theory and Kant’s theory for capital punishment. Executions were practiced as early eighteenth …show more content…
According to article Capital punishment states, “some crimes are so heinous and inherently wrong that they demand strict penalties—up to and including life sentences or even death," (par,8). They believe that the death penalty is effective and preventive to violent crime because criminals will now think twice before committing a murder. "Recent investigations, using a variety of samples and statistical methods, consistently demonstrate a strong link between executions and reduced murder rates," (capital, par.10). They believe having the inmate sit in jail is too expensive because it cost taxpayers “$31,286” per inmate annually (capital, par …show more content…
The strengths of this theory are that some people believe that you can’t separate morality and religion, it provides a moral law and we as people have motivation to follow those laws, it preserves Gods authority. People who believe that religion and morality is inseparable are those that believe that “…religion is the source or basis or morality and that moral precepts are simply what God says should be done… the moral law is the will of God, and the will of God is the moral law” (Vaughn, 9). Without moral reasoning where would our society be? In article “10 Commandments List” by Mike Bennet, list the religious moral rules;
“1. You shall have no other gods before me…6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. You shall not

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