Why is the U.S. the only western industrialized nation that hasn't abolished capital punishment?

Look at the map:


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...





We fall under the same category as Saudi Arabia, China, and Iran.

Why is the U.S. the only western industrialized nation that hasn't abolished capital punishment?
Yeah I guess that is why we get our oil from Saudi Arabia and everything else from China. The US is an oppressive government like the other two; however, instead of being oppressive by limiting choices, our government uses "freedom" to polarize and terrify the public thereby dividing and conquering the common people.
Reply:I believe it can be traced back to Judeau-Christian religious influences.





1) What better way to take revenge on someone then to Kill them and know they are going to Hell, right?





2) Somehow in the psyche's of the victim's-families brain, remains this residual need for the criminal guilty or not, to suffer as much and even more so in most cases then the victim did. Religion or at least Christianity helps meet this need by providing the oppurtunity for one's enemies to Burn in Hell for all eternity.





3) The Ironic thing I was told was that in the original hebrew of the pentateuch(first 5 books of the bible); the "lake of fire" or Hell as we have come to know it today; simply didn't exist!! That somehow Hell was integrated from other beliefs throughout the centuries; and somehow made it into the Bible.





4) This may be an oversimplification, but the principle remains the same:





A) A person who has lost a family member, friend, or signigicant other to a violent-tragedy; feels in their heart of hearts; that the only way to closure is through capital-punishment...and what more better way to seal the deal of closure then the promise of eternal-damnation of burning forevever to help in that closure process.





5) Martin luther King Jr's family forgave King's serial-killer; and may have received more closure then if they hadn't...for amongst other 'Christian' reasons for doing so....there is still controversy over wether the real-serial-killer was in fact the real-serial-killer....which crosses over to a secular-ethical issue as well as a religious one.





6) Scapegoats are never guilty, no matter how well the paint of guilt may represent them to be such...





7) To the truly-guilty-ones(serial-killers/murdere... the worst punishment should be: Life without the possibility of Parole; this has proved more effective then not for most families seeking both emotional-closure and taxpayers that have to fund the paperwork and 5-10 year process for the Killing of the Criminal to take place.
Reply:I, personally, am for capital punishment. Let's take this scenario: the death penalty is abolished. A man (or woman, but I can't keep on saying he/she, so we'll say he's a man) is in prison for life. He has a chance to escape, but he has to kill a prison guard to do so. Let's say for argument's sake that he has some way to kill the guard. Because he already has a life sentence, his situation cannot get worse. Thus, the only thing stopping him from killing the guard and escaping is human decency, which he is apparently short on if he has a life sentence.


Now let's take the same situation in which the death penalty is allowed. The man could still kill the guard and take his chances; however, since his life sentence could get worse, he might think twice. If he was given the death penalty in the first place, instead of a life sentence, this issue would not even exist.


Which scenario sounds better to you?
Reply:We have far fewer human rights violations and issues than Saudi Arabia, China, or Iran. We don't have a state religion. We let people vote the way we want to, we let people have as many kids as they want, we let women drive, and we don't deny the Holocaust ever happened or proclaim that Israel "must be wiped off the face of the Earth" or call a narrow-minded cleric our "Supreme Leader".
Reply:Wow. Capital punishment is a true punishment. The government doesn't kill people simply because someone disagrees with our government, or says something bad about a certain religion. People are put on death row because they did something unthinkable. Like rape, paedophilia, murder, etc.





You need to look up the facts, BEFORE posting something on here, with a reference as sketchy as wiki.
Reply:The saying "an eye for an eye, the world goes blind," is a great example of what not to do. But if your mother or your father was killed by someone who wanted to do it and planned it; do you believe we should pay (taxes) for that person for the rest of their life in jail. If you are a monster than I believe you have no place in this world. We should dump them on a deserted island and let them fend for themselves. Let the killers and rapist kill each other.
Reply:If someone viciously murders a member of your family, do you want your tax dollars keeping the dirt-bag alive in prison for the rest of his life while you go every Sunday to visit your loved one's grave?





If they ever find who murdered my cousin, I want the bastard dead - period.
Reply:I'm a Christian and I believe that capital punishment should be abolished in order to give the criminal every opportunity to repent of his sins and accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. To kill him deprives him of the opportunity to respond to the gospel.
Reply:Because I think it is a fair punishment. I wish I could have my cousin's killer and me in a room alone and me armed with a baseball bat with spikes.
Reply:Because socially we are some backward people.


And note that one of the key arguments often used for capital punishment is that the OT says its okay. Which is just another reason why religion out of control can make a society backward.
Reply:Even God approved of capitol punishment, but it has been taken out of the hand of the public and is turned over to the judges were it belongs .Thats why we have degrees of murder , and look close at other crimes .
Reply:thanks for that map, i love maps :)





and i think that it should be abolished, there are many ways that an innocent person could be put to death, because they were framed, or they simply messed up the evidence in the lab
Reply:Because some believe we are a proud Christian Nation and favor the eye-for-an-eye principle over turn-the-the-cheek (for minor offenses) or true forgiveness.





How many Christians (and non-) actually understand the concept of forgiveness? It is UNCONDITIONAL!
Reply:I am a Protestant Christian and I am vehemently against the death penalty. I don't believe in execution in any case.
Reply:I think we should up the ante a bit on punishment.





Americans have become too out of control.





and eye for an eye.





Soon, we'll all be chasing the Black Pearl with an eye patch. Arrrrrrr!
Reply:Because we are also the only industrialized nation that is 80% Christian.
Reply:Maybe they should consider abolishing killing of the innocent babies of the womb first.
Reply:Let's see:


people that rape and murder children


terrorists


serial murderers





3 great reasons
Reply:Lack of proper education.
Reply:Protestant Christianity is the reason.
Reply:We're under the belief that those who take and disregard life do not deserve to live one.
Reply:Republicans and other WASPs
Reply:Hillbillies and Cowboys.
Reply:nothing wrong witht he death prnalty for child molesting/murderers it stops them repeat offending
Reply:Its America!





thats why.
Reply:because some people are for capital punishment


i think it's a good thing, and eye for an eye...
Reply:The punishment should fit the crime.... too bad a child molester can't be raped to death.
Reply:I have no idea but it's really stupid of us. It's like we promise all these great things and it turns out we aren't actually that great.
Reply:We think it's okay to put murderers to death. I happen to agree.
Reply:Great question. I think it has to do with a frontier mentality- and not realizing that we have other ways to protect society. Because of the growing number of exonerations of people on death row, many Americans are taking another look at the death penalty itself, and finding out about how it actually functions. This issue is much too important to go without facts.





128 people on death rows have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted. DNA, available in less than 10% of all homicides, can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.





The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reliable study shows the death penalty deters others. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in those that don’t.





We have a good alternative, life without parole, on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. Life without parole costs less than the death penalty.





The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison, mostly because of the upfront costs of legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people. (upfront=before and during the initial trial)





The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?





The death penalty doesn't necessarily help families of murder victims. Murder victim family members have testified that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.





Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. Speed up the process and we will execute innocent people.








Sources:


Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org, for stats on executions, reports on costs, deterrence studies, links to FBI crime stats and links to testimony (at state legislatures) of victims' family members.





FBI http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/tab...





The Innocence Project, www.innocenceproject.org





http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/COcostte... page 3 and 4 on why the death penalty is so expensive





http://www.njadp.org/forms/signon-surviv... for statements of victims’ families
Reply:torture is just as bad, and everyone does it.