A popular bumper sticker says, “We kill people to show people that killing people is wrong.” Seems a bit hypocritical, doesn’t it? It sounds as if society is scolding us: “Do as I say, and not as I do! If I tell you not to murder, then don’t…and pay no attention to that man (in the electric chair) behind the curtain!” As quoted by Albert Camus: “What then is capital punishment but the most premeditated of murders?”
We put murderers away for taking another person’s life - it’s against the law. So why isn’t it illegal to take his/her life? Is it all for the sake of poetic justice? Abolitionists often insist that if we argue for “eye for an eye” justice we must be prepared to rape rapists, beat sadists, and burn down the houses of arsonists. (Carmical).
The government justifies capital punishment as self-defense or self-defense for society as a whole. Suppose one applies the same standards to civilians that are had by the government. A......
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