Catholic bishops denounce capital punishment
By Marc • Nov 16th, 2005 • Category: In Other News...., the ChurchWarning….This includes MSM writings about Catholic Church doctrine and Catholic Episcopal statements, which means you can’t trust everything written in the linked article.
“WASHINGTON — The US Conference of Catholic Bishops yesterday overwhelmingly approved a new statement of opposition to capital punishment, asserting that it contributes to a culture of death and violence in the United States.”
To be honest, I think this is a good thing. There is no good reason to use they death penalty in this country. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The capital punishment should never be that, “punishment”. It should only be used as a last resort to protect society from the habitual violent criminal.
Citing John Paul’s teachings, the bishops declared that ”the death penalty is not intrinsically evil, as is the taking of human life through abortion or euthanasia,” but ”in contemporary society, where the state has other, nonlethal means to protect its citizens, the state should not use the death penalty.”
There are other places however, for instance the Philippines where the lack of means to use a non-lethal alternative prevents it from being viable. We have that means however here in the US. We should use it.
[Catholic bishops denounce capital punishment - The Boston Globe]
Marc is a Catholic technology geek living in Tennessee. He blogs at Wild Tangents and is the host of the Catholic Vocations Podcast.
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There’s a presumed fact that no the bishops and JP the Great do not question: that we have the means to protect our citizens. It may be true that we can protect you and me from Joe Murderer, but what about being able to protect inmates and convicts from each other? What about the permanent damage done to young felons by exposure to more violent criminals and gangs in the prison systems? While we may have the ability to protect our citizens in theory, in actual practice we know that putting someone in jail for life does not prevent them from hurting and killing while on the inside.
I think the question of whether we have sufficient means to protect society without the death penalty is an open question.
I would disagree Dennis. I truly think we do have the means. We just don’t exploit those means as we should. I’m not saying we don’t need a lot of prison reform, but it can be done. Our entire penal system is very poorly managed right now. We need to fix that. We need to fix it before we really are in a position were we could abolish the death penalty as the Bishops and I advocate. I would agree we can’t do it now, be can get there. We have the means. That’s what I’m saying.