Death Penalty

• Capital punishment


  The Government supported execution of a person found guilty of a criminal offence
• Capital punishment in the UK

  • Last executions took place in 1964
  • Abolished in 1969
  • Remained a legally defined punishment for treason until 1998
  • Polls in the UK usually suggest around 50-60% of the population would like the death penalty reinstated
• Methods of execution


  • Hanging
  • Firing squad (single shooter)
  • Stoning
  • Lethal injection
  • Beheading
  • Gas chamber
  • Electrocution
  • Falling from height
• Christian arguments for the death penalty

  • "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" (Exodus 21:24) - Justifiable retribution
  • Deterrence
  • Sanctity of life
• Christian arguments against the death penalty

  • "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44 GNB)
  • No chance of reformation
  • Situation Ethics
• Islamic arguments for the death penalty

  • Shari'ah law allows practice
  • "And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right." (Qur'an 6:151.)
  • Muhammad supported stoning of those involved in adultery (testimony of three/four witnesses needed)
• Islamic arguments against the death penalty

  • Muslim Peace Fellowship - Qur'an has been misinterpreted
  • Islam means 'peace'
  • Muhammad was reluctant to use violence - Battle of Badr
• Many follow Utilitarianism
• Does capital punishment promote happiness?

  Protect society?