03-01-2007, 07:33 AM
Bismillah:
I found the following on one of the Christians websites, thought to share...
<b>The Bible says not to kill yet many Christians support the death penalty
</b>
Email: The Bible says it is forbidden to kill, yet <b>many Christians in America support the death penalty and order wars and bombs which kill tens of thousands</b>, yet this is somehow rationalized and an excuse is made as to how this does not violate Christianity, when it plainly does.
Response: First of all, <b>the Bible does not say that it is forbidden to kill. The Bible says that it is forbidden to murder</b>. The old the King James translation is unfortunate. For example, <b>God gives us the right of self-defense and sometimes in that self-defense, it is necessary to kill someone</b>. Furthermore, <b>the Bible supports the death penalty as many Old Testament Scriptures clearly state</b>. So, God is not making a mistake by saying do not kill and yet putting people to death via the death penalty.
Furthermore, <b>murder is the unlawful taking of life. Killing is the lawful taking of life</b>. Therefore, in the issue of taking life we must determine whether or not is lawful or not. If a murderer is sentenced to death in a lawful manner via the law of the land, then it is not murder. However, if a person were to rob someone else and kill him in the process, that is not a lawful taking of life and his murder. God never murders because before God, all people are guilty before the holy law that he is given.
Finally, <b>it is not a a self-contradiction for a person to condemn murder but believe in the death penalty.</b>
Carm.Org
Salam
Wael