Belial,

I think that the idea expressed by some who are opposed to the death penalty is that society is lessened or demeaned by the act of executing murderers.

I think that one could reasonably question that assertion.

To draw a practical example, a substantial part of every human is the part that defends the whole body from something which it, the body, find dangerous. We call this the immune system, and without it we die. This is analogous to a substantial portion of society existing to defend the society. We call these the armed forces, traditionally (in democratic societies) separated into those who defend the society from external threats, the Army, Navy, Air Force, etc.; and those who defend society from internal threats, the police. Both groups are controlled by people who are, again in democracies, themselves controlled by the society at large.

Murderers are a group of people who reject society's prohibition of citizens initiating the use of physical force to achieve their aims. Please note that most people who kill are not murderers. Crimes of passion and situations of limited mental capacity exclude most killers from the set of murderers. Murder is, by definition, pre meditated. Each murderer wanted and planned to do it. Thus, as a result, these people have rejected the constraints of their society. They need, therefore, not be accorded the same accommodations that the State makes for its citizens.

This is why, usually, the police and the military report to, and are under control of politicians. It is through the politicians who write the laws that each society realizes both the strengths and weaknesses inherent in itself.

If a society’s laws reflect the mores and beliefs of that society, then one is forced to accept that that society’s laws about capital crimes – and punishments – will reflect that society.

I would then ask if the society of England = France = USA = India = Australia = Canada = Germany? If not, then why would one – why SHOULD one expect their laws to be the same?

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Eudaimonia