Die Hard (Without Repentance)

Today's first topic is the all-debated death penalty. Is it okay to put a person to death, even if he/she is a mass murderer, or the sort?

The unanimous answer, in our class, was no. We found it to be completely wrong to put a criminal to death for his/her actions. The Bible specifically states in Exodus 20:13 "You shall not kill." Our Social Principles book that we've been using for the past few weeks is also strongly against the Death Penalty.

There was, however, one point of debate over the death penalty that split the classroom: child molesters. There were strong feelings within the classroom as to the right of such people to live, but we eventually concluded that they, too, had the right to live.

Our basic idea that led us to the belief that even criminals, and child molesters, have the right to live is that of repentance. We believe that God wants everyone to repent, and that if given the chance, most criminals probably would repent. If you put such a criminal to the death, then they may never have the chance to repent, and they may not be saved because of it. By using the death penalty, you are not only commiting a crime against humanity, you are committing a crime against God.