[Vision2020] Government killing, etc.

[Ted Moffett]

Joshua wrote:

>God is merciful, but requires justice to be done. The death penalty is part 
>of our protection. Every society (ignoring of course those that have 
>corrupt officials since that eliminates the possibility of true justice) 
>that has a consistently applied death penalty always has lower crime and 
>safer streets.

YOU ARE FLAT OUT WRONG.  CHECK THE FACTS.  GERMANY, FRANCE, SWEDEN, ITALY, 
AND NUMEROUS OTHER NATIONS WITHOUT THE DEATH PENALTY HAVE MUCH LOWER RATES 
OF VIOLENT CRIME THAN THE USA.  AND WITHIN THE USA, THE STATES WITH THE 
DEATH PENALTY DO NOT HAVE LOWER RATES OF VIOLENT CRIME OVERALL THAN THOSE 
STATES THAT DO NOT HAVE THE DEATH PENALTY.  CHECK THE LINK BELOW FOR THIS 
DATA, ESPECIALLY FOR TEXAS, WHICH HAS THE HIGHEST EXECUTION RATE IN THE USA:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=12&did=167

>Mr. Arnold, you are in effect presuming to tell God what to do. And yet 
>your email is full of this "leave it to God to sort out" stuff. God says in 
>His Word very clearly that the man who spills innocent blood shall have his 
>own blood spilled. And if by rare chance (and it is very very rare) a man 
>is killed who was truly innocent of the crime,

AGAIN, FLAT OUT WRONG.   CHECK THE DATA AT THE INNOCENCE PROJECT ON THE 
NUMBER OF EXONERATED INNOCENT INMATES OR FORMER INMATES.  THE FACT IS, WE DO 
NOT KNOW HOW MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN PUT TO DEATH IN THE USA, BUT THE 
NUMBERS ARE LIKELY TO BE IN THE HUNDREDS, BASED ON RECENT FINDINGS.  TOOLS 
SUCH AS DNA TESTING WERE NOT AVAILABLE IN THE PAST TO CONCLUSIVELY PROVE 
INNOCENCE, AND THE NUMBER OF INNOCENT PEOPLE ON DEATH ROW RECENTLY 
EXONERATED BY DNA EVIDENCE AND OTHER EVIDENCE IS SHOCKING.  FORMER GOVERNOR 
RYAN OF ILLINOIS RECENTLY COMMUTED ALL DEATH ROW SENTENCES AFTER CONCLUDING 
THE SYSTEM WAS SO FLAWED AND FULL OF CORRUPTION HE COULD NOT ALLOW 
EXECUTIONS TO CONTINUE.  CHECK THE LINKS BELOW FOR INFO ON THE INNOCENT ON 
DEATH ROW AND THE FLAWS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/

http://www.idoc.state.il.us/ccp/ccp/reports/commission_report/summary_recommendations.pdf

http://justice.policy.net/cjreform/wrong/


God has given the state the power of the sword to punish wrongdoers. And God 
was not speaking merely of the flat of the sword for beating. Rather He 
requires the state to use the sharp edge against the wicked throat.

THIS IS JUST YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE AND THEOLOGY, AN 
INTERPRETATION MANY WELL EDUCATED BIBLICAL SCHOLARS REFUTE.

CONSIDER THE EVANGELIUM VITAE FROM THE VATICAN DEALING WITH THE THEOLOGICAL 
AND BIBLICAL BASIS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html

NO DOUBT YOU WILL PICK THE BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP THAT SUITS YOUR 
PRE-DETERMINED CONCLUSIONS, BUT I SEE NO REASON TO BELIEVE YOUR 
INTERPRETATION OF GOD'S LAW OVER THAT OF THE BIBLICAL SCHOLARS AT THE 
VATICAN.

THERE ARE NUMEROUS ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY, BUT I BELIEVE THE 
FINAL AND BEST ARGUMENT IS THAT IT GIVES THE STATE TOO MUCH POWER.  I 
BELIEVE IN LIMITING THE POWER OF THE STATE OVER THE INDIVIDUAL AS MUCH AS IS 
PRACTICAL, ASSUMING THAT EVERY POWER THE STATE IS GRANTED CAN AND WILL BE 
ABUSED.  GRANTING THE STATE THE POWER TO KILL ITS OWN CITIZENS WHEN THEY ARE 
RESTRAINED AND JAILED MUST RANK AS AS ONE OF THE MOST DRACONIAN POWERS THE 
STATE COULD BE ALLOWED.

Ted

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