Changes

The death penalty, or capital punishment as it is otherwise known, is a topic that creates heated debate among both Christians and non-Christians. Among Christians there is no consensus about whether it is ever justified, and whether our governments should implement it or not. There are no clear trends in attitudes that can be attributed to Christians based on denomination or conservative or liberal beliefs. Whether or not Christians are for or against the death penalty seems to be more related to geography than anything else. Christians in the southern states of America tend to be pro capital punishment, whereas Christians from the northern states of America, Europe and Australia tend to be against capital punishment, although these trends are by no means universal. It's hard even to find trends in opinions of Christians from South America, Asia or Africa.

==Bible verses used to support capital punishment==

:''And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God has God made man.''

:''But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.''

:''Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death. Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death. Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.''

:''Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no-one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.''

[[Mennonites]] belong to Christian [[denomination]] who fled to the United States in the seventeenth century. They are conservative, biblically based Christians, who seem to live in the past. The Amish Mennonites in Ohio for example, continue to use horse and carts, and do not have the household comforts of modern life. They are also pacifists and will not fight in wars and are opposed to the death penalty. In a declaration of 1965 they urged the Canadian Government to discontinue capital punishment, stating

:''In 1957, a man named Cleo Eugene murdered a Mennonite farmer in Ohio. He was caught and tried, and sentenced to die. In an incredible act of mercy, the Mennonite family and community of the murdered man, petitioned the courts to commute the sentence. Their request was granted, and Cleo Eugene lived.''

==The stance of different denomination and countries on the death penalty==

Generally there are no defined viewpoints. The Roman Catholic Church has been a vocal opponent of it in recent years. Most churches in Europe and Australia oppose the death penalty. Christians attending conservative Protestant churches in the United States are often in favour of capital punishment.

''Country'' region Death penalty in force

Argentina: No

Chile: No

European Union: No

Kenya: Informal moratorium

Russia: Informal moratorium

United Kingdom: No

United States: Yes

Paradoxically, the most ardent detractors of abortion in the United States are often the most vocal supporters of capital punishment.

''An unfinished article by [[Graham Llewellyn Grove]]''