Do you support or oppose capital punishment? Outline the arguments on both sides of the issue
What will be an ideal response?
Few issues inflame Americans' passions as intensely as capital punishment. The views of both sides, often expressed through references to biblical passages they believe support their respective positions, typically reflect only the religious convictions of supporters and opponents alike, without regard for legal factors. While the "eye for an eye" cry of proponents and the "vengeance is mine, saith the Lord" chant of dissenters might play well on the six o'clock news, such visceral responses do little to advance reasoned discourse on the issue. Rather, they simply illustrate the sheer emotionalism surrounding the state's authority to take a human life.
The main arguments to abolish capital punishment include the claim that innocent people have been executed, a lack of proven deterrence, the arbitrary nature of its imposition, the claim that it discriminated against certain ethnic and racial groups, the expense, and the claim that human life is sacred.
Arguments for capital punishment include just deserts, revenge and retribution, and protection,
Reasoned intellectual debate, which focuses on the legal issues of capital punishment in our society, is needed. However, unless participants control their emotions, reasoned intellectual debate will be a rare event indeed.
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